CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) 鈥� Comedian and television host entertained Harvard University graduates at their commencement Thursday, mixing offbeat humor and political jokes with more reflective commentary about empathy and humility at a time when the Ivy League school is in the .
O鈥橞rien, who graduated from Harvard in 1985 and led The Harvard Lampoon humor magazine, quipped that the university had produced 鈥渕ore Nobel laureates or white-collar criminals鈥� than any other in the country. 鈥淪o whether you choose good or evil, know that you are among the very best.鈥�
While he joked about 鈥淛ustice Department spies鈥� being in attendance, he also defended international students 鈥� which the Trump administration has attempted to 鈥� and criticized what he described as a broader erosion of compassion in American public life.
鈥淥ur current leadership in Washington believes that empathy is a weakness,鈥� O鈥橞rien said.
He returns to campus during one of the most fraught periods in Harvard’s recent history. The school faces mounting legal and financial pressure from President ‘s administration, which sued the school in March over accusations its leadership failed to address antisemitism on campus.
Months earlier, a judge sided with Harvard in another lawsuit and ordered the administration to reverse billions of dollars in . Harvard says it was being illegally penalized for refusing to adopt the Trump administration鈥檚 views.
O’Brien joked that he too was suing the university over everything from uncomfortable dorm furniture to his 鈥渓ess-than-spectacular undergraduate sex life,鈥� claims he said had 鈥渕ore merit than those filed by the president of the United States.鈥�
Reflecting on how his Harvard background shaped the way people perceived him early in his comedy career, he urged grads not to let Harvard define them.
鈥淢aybe my wish for you is not that Harvard becomes the last thing people know about you,鈥� O鈥橞rien said, 鈥渂ut instead that Harvard become the least important thing people know about you.鈥�
Student speaker Andrew O鈥橠onohue, who completed a doctorate studying democratic institutions and judicial independence, described how federal funding tied to his research was wiped out by Trump administration cuts before Harvard stepped in.
鈥淲hen students self-censor, when professors fear being punished, when scientists worry that research funding is allocated based on politics,鈥� O鈥橠onohue said, 鈥渙ur universities will not produce the next great artist, doctor, scientist, educator, lawyer, entrepreneur, public servant, or innovator.鈥�
Recent Harvard commencements have grown much more political.
Last year, speakers who defended diversity and international students in the face of attacks. The year before was marked by walkouts and chants of 鈥淔ree Palestine鈥� after weeks of campus protests over the war in Gaza.
This year, graduate workers who are on strike picketed in Harvard Yard, blaring vuvuzela horns, drums and cowbells whenever an administrator spoke. More than 4,000 grad workers want higher pay, stronger protections and an independent process for harassment and discrimination complaints, among other issues. Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators silently held signs condemning the university’s 鈥淐omplicity in Palestinian Genocide.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Leah Willingham in Boston contributed.
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