Harvard and Yale have been dueling for centuies. Last week we heard Abraham Verghese’s Commencement Address at Harvard (est. 1636). Not to be outdone, the Kiwi superstar, Jacinda Adern, addressed the upcoming graduates of Yale (est. 1701)
Jacinda Adern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister from October 2017 until January 2023, gave the Class Day address at Yale Commencement on May 19, 2025. Her countryman, Dr. Marius Rademaker alerted us to this.
She started with a Maori proverb: Ko te manu kai i te mātauranga, nōna te ao. The bird that consumes the miro berry owns the forest. The bird that consumes knowledge, owns the world.”
She confessed that she suffers from imposter syndrome. It’s manifested by self-doubt. It brings with it humility; and It brings with it the desire to learn from experts.
She also told the audience that they should not be afraid to show sympathy. Empathy/sympathy is nothing without action. Empathy needs to motivate us to action
In the past few months, she told the C;ass of 2025, the world has become “an all out dumpster fire.”
We are living in a time when the small are made to feel smaller and those in power loom large. We are at an inflection point.
Isolation, blame and cruelty may be the rule now for some politicians.
But, it’s not just about you. It’s about us. We are all connected. We need the strength of shared values.
George Marshall said: “Governments which systematically disregard the rights of their own people are not likely to respect the rights of other nations and other people, and are likely to seek their objectives by coercion and force in the international field.”*
Leading with empathy is strength. There are some who say that empathy is some kind of threat to Western civilization. There is much I could say about this; but empathy has never started a war; never taken the dignity of others and empathy is interchangeable with another word “responsibility.”
Her talk was memorable, even if you don’t understand the Maori.
- George C. Marshall. Address to the United Nations General Assembly.delivered 23 September 1948, Paris, France. Link
Note: Jacinda Adern’s book, “A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir,” was published on June 3, 2025
Comments from Dato Dr. Cheng Leng Ong, Pahang Darul Makmur, Malaysia,
Dear Editor,
You’ve wisely paired the commencement addresses of the two top universities of your great country for our consideration.
I’ve read carefully through both the speeches given by powerful personalities and it is our pleasure to just read them. I’ll now analyse both ( speakers and their respective speech) carefully and truthfully, without regards to political correctness.
Why were they both specially selected? Well, both of them are powerful and articulate. And as expected, they had risen up to the occasion.
What occasion? It is a time when the top universities had just received the news that they have to tighten their belts especially in an area that has been their pride for years, they have been gathering brains from all corners of the world, which helps to maintain their premier league positions.
Why tightening of the belt? Your country has been giving aids to almost the whole world, you have been really great. But time is different now, you’re in debts by overspending even in charities. When Harvard, Yale take in top students from poorer countries, they are often given scholarships or at least some forms of grants. It has been a selfless act, from your background of long Christian history. But it is often done at the expense of your own American students!
Time is no more the same, competitions are tough, and the top competitor is knocking at the door, after learning from every possible ways, your technologies!
Your president eagerly wants to make America great again, no wonder he plays his trump card that shocks the whole world! The poor counties which have grown dependant on USAIDS won’t be weaned of so easily! Pray for wisdom to adjust sensibly.
I noticed that both the invited speakers are not speaking from the Word of God, which has the final say in all things. God save America and the world!