Remarks by President Vincent E. Price at Duke University’s 2025 Commencement

May 11, 2025

Thank you again to Deja Blue for that lovely tribute to this extraordinary Class. And thank you, Professor Jones, Danica, and Lucas, for those thoughtful words of welcome.

This morning’s Commencement ceremony is both a celebration of the Class of 2025, and the continuation of a cherished academic tradition that connects Duke students and alumni across class years and generations.

And today’s ceremony is special in this regard, as we honor the 100th anniversary of the first Duke University Commencement, held just months after James B. Duke’s indenture of trust sparked the transformation of Trinity College into Duke University.

As we conclude our formal celebration of this centennial year, we are also looking ahead to the pivotal roles Duke students, faculty, staff and alumni will play in addressing the tremendous opportunities and challenges of the next 100 years. 

And in doing so, we may find helpful perspective in the life experiences of the class of 1925.

In June of 1925, the first students to graduate from the newly named Duke University gathered in Craven Memorial Hall on East Campus, where they were addressed by Curtis D. Wilbur, the Secretary of the Navy. 

Among the 187 members of the class of 1925 were several individuals of note, including:

Yasuko Ueno, the first Asian woman to graduate from our university;

Graduate student Mike Bradshaw Jr., who was one of the Chronicle writers who was credited with first referring to our athletics teams as the Blue Devils;

And Charles E. Jordan, who received his Law degree that day, and whose lifetime of service to Duke and Durham would later be recognized in the naming of Durham’s Jordan High School, located just a few miles from here.

They and their classmates would go on to pursue lives of purpose and principle in a variety of settings that would have made our benefactor James B. Duke proud. 

Indeed, at the time of their graduation, the majority of the class reported an intention to pursue teaching, business, medicine or religious work, paths that aligned very well with the fields that Mr. Duke considered best positioned, in his words, to “uplift mankind.” 

The Class of 1925 emerged from Duke during the Jazz Age, a dynamic period in American history. Optimism was high thanks to strong prosperity and seemingly lasting peace following World War I.

But the graduates would soon be forced to wrestle with rising social, economic and political tensions, and a general tenor of uncertainty that may seem familiar today.

Just a month after that graduation, the Scopes Monkey Trial, held 400 miles west of here in Dayton, Tennessee, would draw the world’s attention to questions of evolution and religion, and their place in public schools.

Some four years later, the Great Depression would result in heartbreaking family hardships and widespread economic devastation with generational consequences.

And of course, a decade after the Great Depression, the outbreak of World War II would signal the beginning of some of humanity’s darkest days. 

However, in their lifetimes, the class of 1925 also enjoyed an era of enormous innovation and nearly unimaginable progress. 

Consider – if you will – some of the wonders they would experience: 

The life-saving discovery of penicillin, in 1928, which would revolutionize treatment of bacterial infections. 

The unprecedented economic growth and prosperity that followed the end of World War II.

The advent of home televisions, of commercial aviation, and other technologies that facilitated the flow of information, ideas, and people. 

And the significant movement – albeit sometimes slow, and often uneven – toward equal rights and broader distribution of opportunity in society.

The class of 1925 was part of what came to be known as “The Greatest Generation.” Shaped by hardships – and fueled by resilience, honor, and an industrious spirit – their generation went on to make possible the many remarkable achievements of the 20th century.  

Class of 2025, in your relatively short lifetimes the world has already seen transformative developments, including: breakthroughs in artificial intelligence; a revolution in media and information sharing; and the introduction of life-changing technologies, including the iPhone and electric vehicles… to say nothing of the air fryer – not exactly revolutionary, but a big step forward for making homemade chips.

Just as Duke’s very first Blue Devils, those members of the greatest generation who commenced into their unpredictable, changing world 100 years ago, today you commence into yours.  

This changing world will bring challenges, I assure you, including many we cannot foresee today. These will test your resilience, your honor, your industrious spirit. 

But it will also bring opportunities for innovation and for human progress, perhaps as never seen before. 

And your generation of Blue Devils will discover and develop the breakthroughs that will define the 21st century. And in that transformative, life-improving and life-saving work, as alumni of this university you will carry on Mr. Duke’s bold vision for uplifting mankind.  

In this century to come, may you come to be known as the even greater generation.

Congratulations, Class of 2025.

I am now delighted to welcome the Chair of the Duke University Board of Trustees, Adam Silver, to formally open this commencement for the awarding of honorary degrees.

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