Let the Speech Commence

Yesterday, I mentioned that Steve Carell gave the commencement address at the beloved Northwestern University.  When posting the interview that he did with Northwestern president Michael Schill beforehand, I noted that it had taken me a while to post that address, which I now do below.
 
The address was a joy and got a lot of national press attention – in part because it was very smart and entertaining, and in part because of an unexpected “tweak” he provided as part of his speech.  But for as much attention at the speech got, with short clips posted on YouTube, for some inexplicable reason, the full speech wasn’t posted.  There were a few videos of it posted by people in attendance, but the audio was tinny and hard to hear, and the video generally just an image of the jumbo screen at the United Center in Chicago.  It wasn’t what I wanted to post, so I kept looking.

 
This was especially odd because colleges post their commencement addresses on YouTube all the time.  In fact, Northwestern has, as well, for years – having posted those by Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Gov. Pritzker (whose theme, as it happens, remarkably was “Life Lessons from The Office”!!), Sen. Barack Obama in 2006, Mayor Daley in 2008, and even John McCain in 2005 can be found.  But not Steve Carell’s.  (Further, a wonderful speech from this year’s graduation, given by undergrad philosophy major Clary Doyle is posted on  YouTube – and she even wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post about it…which embedded the YouTube video!.  I’ll likely post it next week)  But – not Steve Carell’s speech.

Carell and Gov. JB Pritzer in 2023,
after the governor's speech

This omission was even more odd given the speaker, the focus of the speech, and Northwestern being one of the leading universities in theater, communication and journalism.  I’m certain, considering the national attention the speech got, that a great many people searched YouTube to find the whole speech (alums, prospective students, prospective theater students, and the general public), only to come up empty-handed.  It’s such a great opportunity to easily promote Northwestern, and in an accessible way.  All the more so at a time to offset attention from when the school has been egregiously attacked by the Trump administration, having $790 million in research funding frozen.
 
But no Carell speech.
 
Finally, I wrote to the school, asking if it was available anywhere – not just on YouTube, but even on the Northwestern website – and made all these points above.  I heard back, and it turns out that the speech is, happily, on the Northwestern site.  But – it’s buried so deeply,  which is why I was unable to find it.  It was on a page under Graduation and then under Families and Guests.  And even at that, the speech itself wasn’t posted, but the entire two-hour graduation ceremony – which is why I couldn’t find it was a search.
 
This remains inexplicable.  Almost no one will find it here…rather than editing the speech out of the full ceremony and posting it on YouTube.  After all, that’s where far-more people can find it much easier -- but also that link on the NU site is for the full commencement rather than just the Carell speech alone (which ultimately is the attention-getting “headliner” of the event), and also YouTube videos are so easy for people to repost, embed in articles, and spread positive attention about Northwestern. 
But…well, maybe at some point they’ll post the speech alone on YouTube.  At least for now, it’s available somewhere.  In the middle of the full event.
 
And it’s a very entertaining speech, charming and thoughtful, and often extremely funny.  Carell himself didn’t go to Northwestern, though as I noted yesterday, his daughter graduated in 2023 (so the actor was there in attendance when Gov. Pritzker gave his Office-themed speech), his son is a student at the school now, and Carell himself actually went to Northwestern’s summer “Cherub program” for high school students – and started his career in Chicago at the Second City theater.
 
I’ve had  two occasions to cross paths with Steve Carell.
 
The first time was in 2000 at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles.  I was covering it for an article I was doing for the Writers Guild.  And he was there for his work as a “correspondent” on The Daily Show.  We ran into each other on the street outside the convention center, and he was extremely personable, giving me some advice on how to best get around the event.
 
The other time was when friends were directing and producing the movie, Get Smart.  I visited the set one day, and when sitting around with my friends waiting for a lengthy set-up, Carell came by.  And for about 20 minutes, we all had a very enjoyable conversation.  One thing I fondly remembered.  I don’t recall exactly how the topic came up, but it was on when actors complain about not getting all the perqs they wanted.  Carell acknowledged that his perspective was different from most because he came to his success much later in his career than many.  But in a quiet voice – and remember, this wasn’t for the press, there were no news cameras around – he said, “I get a nice trailer, I get meals, I’m treated well.  And anyone who complains about that…” and he paused for just a very brief moment, “…is an asshole!!”

Anyway, here's the commencem...

We interrupt this article for this Breaking News.

UPDATE:  When I initially posted this tale, this is the point where I directed you to the Northwestern website and where the speech is buried, and at what time in the speech you should jump to to see Carell's speech.  But --

It took almost a month (and I like to think perhaps all my noodging emails to three different school officials), but...Steve Carell's commencement address was finally posted on YouTube!  O huzzah!  So, you don't have to go anywhere, but just click on the video below.

And yes, here is what he says.