As the 2009 college and university commencement season comes to a close, ElectWomen Magazine highlights some of the women who delivered speeches across the United States. 

President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, Mount Holyoke College

“Over 40 years ago, when I was in my midteens, I announced at home that I had decided to become a lawyer. The first words I heard in response were, ‘You can’t because you are a woman.’ It was the voice of our parish priest. The next voice I heard was my mother’s, saying, “Don’t listen to him.” To my mother’s surprise, I heeded her advice. A couple of years later, the same year that the first human walked on the Moon, I started law school and our first textbook was called ‘Learning the Law’ by a very eminent jurist, Prof. Glanville Williams. In a chapter ominously entitled ‘Women,’ he stated his views that law school was no place for women and that our voices were too weak to be heard in a courtroom. That man had clearly never met my mother. He reckoned the only thing to be gained by having female law students was the opportunity it provided to meet suitable spouses. I married a dentist, just for spite.”

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, Barnard College

I want to talk about a particular area where I think you can, you should, and you must make a difference. It’s important to me personally and it’s especially important in my new job, and that is the plight of women and girls around the world. As women with strong voices and strong values, you are in a unique position to support women worldwide who don’t have the resources you do, but whose lives and dreams are just as worthy as yours and mine. I have concluded after traveling many miles and visiting many places in the last decades that talent is universally distributed, but opportunity is not. The futures of these women and girls will affect yours and mine. And therefore, it is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing. . .

Professor, Natalie Davis, Birmingham-Southern College

“You are the Millennials. You differ from Generation X in that you are neither cynical nor alienated, and you seem to like your parents. You’re not like the boomers, who are ideologues and tend to listen only to those who share their ideology. You are seen as being inclusive when it comes to race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. You actually have positive attitudes on the ability of government to play a constructive role in our lives. You want to build coalitions. … You are networked, and you tweet. And most importantly for our time, you are problem-solvers.”

First Lady, Michelle Obama, University of California, Merced

“Remember that you are blessed — remember that in exchange for those blessings you must give something back,” Obama told the crowd. “You must reach back and pull someone up. You must bend down and let someone else stand on your shoulders so that they can see a brighter future.”

Oprah Winfrey, Duke University

“Of all the wonderful things that have happened, including getting a doctorate, an honorary doctorate from Duke, what really makes me feel successful is being able to use my life in service to someone else. And I will have to say, it is a wonderful thing to have a beautiful home, or homes, a wonderful thing to have a beautiful home which just escaped the fire in Santa Barbara. And it is really fantastic to have your own jet, and anybody who says it isn’t is lying to you. That jet thing is really good. But you really haven’t completed the circle of success unless you can help somebody else move forward.”

Founder, Women for Women International, Zainab Salbi, Rice University

“Sometimes you just have to jump off the cliff without knowing where you will land. Sixteen years ago, I jumped. It was 1993. I was 23 years old and horrified by what I was seeing in the news about rape camps in Bosnia. I couldn’t find anyone doing something about the astounding injustices women were experiencing, so I decided to do something myself. I cannot tell you how many people ridiculed my efforts. I was not getting paid, and a lot of people said: ‘Stop doing that. Go get a real job, and get paid.’ … At 25 years old I was honored by President Clinton at a White House ceremony for my grass-roots work. Even then I would not have imagined that 15 years later, Women for Women would be assisting hundreds of thousands of women in countries all around the world. … If I, an immigrant woman from Iraq with no money, can do this, you can too.”

CBS Anchorwoman, Katie Couric, Princeton University

So, I’d like to officially welcome Princeton to the 21st Century. You’ve embraced the female gender at the perfect time…because it’s been quite a year for women.

After all, a Latina has just been nominated to the Supreme Court…only the third woman in history. And I heard she graduated summa cum laude from a little school in New Jersey! Hillary Clinton was the first serious female presidential candidate and made 18 million cracks in the ultimate glass ceiling. And then of course, there’s Carrie Prejean, Miss California. No one has done more to motivate gay rights activists since Anita Bryant. [Your parents know who she is.]

Anne Lynam Goddard, Assumption College

But that time in Peace Corps did much more than that – it accomplished what expanding your horizons always does – it helped me discover what I am passionate about — fighting poverty and helping children.