President Barack Obama was directly addressing graduating students in his commencement speech Sunday at Rutgers University.
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Almost 17-thousand students received their degrees at the ceremony.
Obama gave shout-outs to several Rutgers graduates, including Yasmin Ramadan, a School of Arts and Sciences graduate, who is an anti-bullying advocate and heads the Muslim Public Relations Council, and Madison Little, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences graduate who presented research findings at an worldwide AIDS conference.
The thunderous ovation Obama received when he was introduced to the Class of 2016 suggests they were just fine with their school’s choice of speaker.
Trump, the apparent Republican presidential nominee, has proposed building a wall between the United States and Mexico and forcing Mexico to pay for its potential multibillion dollar construction costs. He noted that the world is becoming more connected, and building walls won’t change it.
“It’s so great to be able to see him speak today – I feel a special connection”, said Michael Ganoot, the university’s only graduate from Hawaii, Obama’s home state.
Obama took the opportunity to take sharp swipes at Donald J. Trump on Sunday during a commencement address. “I am sure Michelle would approve”.
During the speech, Obama encouraged the graduates to expect political leaders to value and posses some of the knowledge they had earned through years of studying.
“If you vote and elect a majority that represents your views you will get what you want”, Obama told the students.
After pausing amid another round of applause and laughs, the president added: “It’s not cool to not know what you’re talking about”. Thats not keeping it real or telling it like it is. That’s not challenging political correctness.
“Suggesting that we can build an endless wall along our borders and blame our challenges on immigrants, that doesn’t just run counter to our history as the world’s melting pot, it contradicts the evidence that our growth and our innovation and our dynamism has always been spurred by our ability to attract strivers from every corner of the globe.that’s how we became America, why would we want to stop it now?” “The point is, to help ourselves, we’ve got to help others – not pull up the drawbridge and try to keep the world out”. You and your fellow graduates are entering the job market with better prospects than any time since 2007. That’s how progress happens, in society and in our own lives. “The system isn’t as rigged as you think, and it certainly isn’t as hopeless as you think”. “Don’t lose hope, don’t let resistance make you cynical”.
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Following that, Obama concluded his speech by referencing New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen: “They spend their lives waiting for a moment that just don’t come. Cynicism is so easy and cynics don’t accomplish much”. “Don’t waste your time waiting”.
