“Trust Yourself”: Commencement Addresses Across the Decades

In 1974, when the first class of Ravens to spend all four years in the Upper School crossed the stage to receive their diplomas, a particularly distinguished guest was there to witness it: Vice President Gerald Ford, who had given their commencement address.

In the years since, dozens of notable speakers — politicians, academics, artists, philanthropists — have delivered their reflections, reminders and advice to graduating seniors. Here, we highlight some of those whose names are likely familiar to Ravens even today and explore the advice they imparted to graduates.

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Buckley looks back at other dignitaries while delivering his remarks in this photo from the Fall 1981 Ravenscroft Quarterly; members of the Class of 1981 pose in front of the A.E. Finley Activity Center for their graduation photo, captured in the 1981 Corvus.

William F. Buckley Jr. | 1981

Buckley was a well-known writer and political commentator whose magazine, National Review, founded in 1955, was considered the standard-bearer of the American conservative movement for decades. A veteran of the Army and a graduate of Yale University, Buckley wrote editorials for the National Review and a syndicated newspaper column as well as more than 50 books on topics ranging from history and politics to a series of spy novels. From 1966 to 1999, Buckley was host of the PBS show “Firing Line.”

Buckley’s appearance at Ravenscroft was widely anticipated, even being announced in the May 1981 issue of the Upper School’s student newspaper, The Nevarmore. In his Commencement address, which was shared in full in the Fall 1981 Ravenscroft Quarterly, he touched on many of the themes found in his overall body of work, including the concept of academic freedom and the nature of personal liberty.

He also gave advice to the graduates-to-be, saying, “I do believe that even at your age you owe America something, and that which you owe is to meditate your blessings.”

Buckley’s speech was shared again in its entirety in the 1984-85 Annual Report. In introducing the content, then-President Grover Smith noted, “I can think of no better use of our publication than to present to you thoughtful and provoking articles dealing with ideas critically significant to our day and age.”

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Dole addresses the Class of 1984 and their guests in this Commencement photo from the 1984 Corvus; the seniors gather in the Upper School (now Middle School) courtyard for their informal class photo, shared in the opening pages of the 1984 Corvus.

Elizabeth Dole | 1984

A North Carolina native, Dole was serving as Secretary of Transportation in the Reagan administration when she spoke at Ravenscroft’s Commencement in 1984. A trailblazer among women of both political parties, Dole would later serve as Secretary of Labor under George H.W. Bush and as a U.S. senator for North Carolina in 2002-2006. She returned to Ravenscroft as Commencement speaker in 2002.

In her remarks to the Class of 1984, she alluded to the rise of conservative leadership under President Ronald Reagan and emphasized the responsibility all Americans have to safeguard our democracy. “On this late spring day,” she is quoted by the Corvus yearbook staff as saying, “I’m reminded that America herself is in the midst of a springlike renewal. Our 200-year-old experiment in popular government is rethinking itself, its options, its possibilities and its dreams. One recalls the words of a great jurist, Robert H. Jackson, who wrote in 1950, ‘It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.’”

She also challenged the graduating class to honor where they came from: “Like stones tossed into the water, each of you will send out ripples. Some, no doubt, will make waves. As you do, remember who fashioned the stones and filled the lake in the first place.”

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Kuralt shares his wisdom and advice in this photo from the 1987 Corvus; members of the Class of 1987 gather around the gazebo of the Upper School courtyard for their class photo for the yearbook.

Charles Kuralt | 1987

Another North Carolina native, Kuralt was an Emmy Award-winning television, newspaper and radio journalist and author. His “On the Road” slice-of-life segments for CBS News earned him two Peabody Awards and made him a household name for many Americans. In 1985, two years before speaking at Ravenscroft, he was named Broadcaster of the Year by the International Radio & Television Society.

While the text of Kuralt’s speech wasn’t included in the 1987 Corvus, the yearbook’s story on Commencement notes that he “spoke of our heritage as Americans and North Carolinians, reminding us that 200 years ago our founding fathers were sitting in Philadelphia thrashing over the words that would become our Constitution.”

The staff of the Corvus did note the seniors’ excitement as they entered Main Arena (now Warner Arena) to the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance,” writing, “June 6, 1987, a day we had been waiting four years for. ... We were going to graduate.” The story then reveals what happened after the speeches and awarding of diplomas: Upper School Director “Dr. [Joe] Beasley finally addressed the seniors and instructed us to move the tassels on our tams to the left side, over our hearts, signifying our progression from secondary education. The strains of ‘Trumpet Voluntary’ filled the arena and we were marching out, Ravenscroft graduates — class of ’87.”

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Franklin speaks about the importance of political literacy in his address to the Class of 1991, as shown in the 1991 Corvus; members of the class have their moment in the courtyard captured in the 1991 Corvus.

John Hope Franklin | 1991

A civil rights lawyer and historian, Franklin was already a distinguished academic when he came to Duke University in 1983 to serve as the James B. Duke Professor of History Emeritus. He also served as Professor of Legal History at Duke University’s Law School. In 2001, the university opened the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies with a mission to provide a safe, collaborative space to investigate moral and ethical issues.

It was their shared passion for history that motivated Ravenscroft’s then-Headmaster Jim Hendrix to invite Franklin to speak at the 1991 Commencement exercises, after which the two maintained a friendly relationship. Hendrix still has an audio recording of Franklin’s speech, which he listened to for this story.

He quoted these words that speak to him today: “In order to be politically effective you need to be politically literate. … Democracy is a form of government and a way of life that promotes equality, that fosters and respects the rights of others, and insists on a form of government as protection of those rights.”

“I was stunned to walk back in time and hear that fabulous speech,” Hendrix said. “I [remembered] he was on a tight schedule and had to leave for the airport immediately after speaking. What I couldn’t recall was why: he was flying to Corvallis, Oregon, to receive what was his 87th honorary degree — just amazing.”

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Wood is captured during a serious moment of his speech in this image from the 1995 Corvus; the Class of 1995 dons caps and gowns to capture their impending graduation in this photo from the 1995 Corvus.

Ira David Wood III | 1995

A homegrown theater legend, Wood is best known as the founder and Executive Director of Raleigh’s Theatre In The Park — and for his stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” which debuted in 1974 and has since become a beloved holiday tradition for generations of Triangle-area families. In 1987, he wrote and directed the Opening Ceremonies for the U.S. Olympic Festival taking place in North Carolina, one of the largest single athletic events in the state’s history. In recent years, he has also served as Artistic Director for another long-running North Carolina stage drama, “The Lost Colony,” propelling the production to a 2013 Tony Honor for Excellence in Theater.

While we do not have the text of Wood’s address, Meredith Cage ’95 — who was the Student Speaker for her class — remembered that his trademark dry wit was part of his speech and elicited laughter and delight from the audience. “He transitioned to more serious messaging about the responsibility to pay it forward, given all that we’d been given,” she added.

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In this photo captured by the 2003 Corvus staff, Procter delivers an optimistic address to the Class of 2003 and their guests; the seniors have their class photo for the 2003 Corvus taken in front of the newly opened Murphy Hall Upper School.

Emily Procter ’86 | 2003

As the Summer 2003 Ravenscroft Magazine reports, the Class of 2003’s Commencement was memorable in part because an “inconvenient and unpredicted rain shower” necessitated a “swift act of precision by the Maintenance Department” to move the ceremony into Main Arena (now Warner Arena). It was also notable because, as retired Upper School English Department chair Sylvia White remembered, students’ “excitement around Emily Procter was palpable.”

Procter was the first Ravenscroft alum to give a Commencement address. At the time, she starred as Calleigh Duquesne on the police procedural “CSI: Miami,” which ran from 2002 to 2012; she also played Ainsley Hayes on the political drama “The West Wing.”

“The air everywhere on campus vibrated with expectant energy,” White remembered. “Emily was a former student of mine, so I was very glad to see her. She greeted everyone warmly and never turned down a request for an autograph. She was happy to be back at her Ravenscroft home.”

Ravenscroft Magazine notes that Procter “emphasized self-trust and the courage to take risks. ‘If you trust yourself when you step off that ledge, you’ll either land on solid ground or sprout wings and fly,’” she said.

Procter has since been recognized with Ravenscroft’s Distinguished Alumni Award (2007) and Fine Arts Hall of Fame Award (2015). In 2019, she was featured in a Ravenscroft Magazine alumni story about service.

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Munson addresses graduating Ravens and their families from a lectern on the campus green in this image from the 2015 Corvus; members of the Class of 2015 gather at the Murphy Family Bell Tower on the first day of their senior year for their class yearbook photo.

Lester Munson | 2015

Lester Munson, a lawyer-turned-sportswriter, launched his journalism career at the short-lived National Sports Daily in 1990 and was soon recruited to join the staff of Sports Illustrated, where he remained for 13 years. In 2004, he joined ESPN and appeared on a variety of sports shows.

While his address at the Class of 2015’s Commencement exercises may be remembered by some attendees for his reference to “AFGO” — an acronym coined by poet Nikki Giovanni that alludes to an expletive — he also drew from the wisdom of famous figures ranging from Henry David Thoreau and Winston Churchill to Jackie Robinson and the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

As he made reference to living in a “difficult moment in our history,” citing national security, environmental, economic and political challenges, he invoked Lead From Here — the school’s recently launched PreK-12 framework — in providing the soon-to-be graduates with the competencies they’d need to be successful in the days to come.

“It may be a time of difficulty but, more importantly, it is a time of opportunity, a time of opportunity especially for the 119 graduates here today,” he said. “The citizen leader program here at Ravenscroft is the place to start. … It is a road map for responding to these difficulties and a basis for defining new and effective approaches.”

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In these archival photos, Fajgenbaum speaks to the Class of 2022 during Commencement exercises at Christ Church; and seniors celebrate their impending graduation at the annual Alumni Association Welcome Dinner.

David Fajgenbaum ’03 | 2022

The 2016 recipient of Ravenscroft’s Distinguished Alumni Award, Fajgenbaum is a physician-scientist best known for his work to identify and repurpose existing medications to treat rare diseases — inspired by his own story, captured in his memoir, “Chasing My Cure” — and his 2022 founding of the nonprofit Every Cure in support of this mission, for which he has won numerous awards.

In his address to the Class of 2022, Fajgenbaum recounted experiences that have shaped him, including winning the state football championship during his sophomore year at Ravenscroft and playing Division I football at Georgetown, followed by the devastating passing of his mother from cancer and his own near-fatal bouts with Castleman disease. He said he has been driven to action by words from Pope John Paul II, which had guided his mother before him: “Happiness is achieved through sacrifice. Do not look outside for what is to be found inside. Do not expect from others what you yourselves can and are called to be or to do.”

Having spent 100.68 months in remission at that point — as he said, he never rounds up or down, realizing that with this disease he is living “in overtime” — Fajgenbaum offered these imperatives to the Class of 2022: “We are all in overtime. Positivity and humor are powerful antidotes. Solutions may be hiding in plain sight. Reflect and create silver linings!”

At top, past Commencement speakers (clockwise from top left) Elizabeth Dole, John Hope Franklin, Emily Procter ’86 and David Fajgenbaum ’03

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