Interspersing themes of kindness, envy, listening and respect with wisecracks and his trademark deadpan humor, actor and comedian Steve Carell helped inspire, and amuse, Northwestern University’s Class of 2025 as their commencement speaker Sunday.
The star of The Office and numerous shows and movies shared hopeful and whimsical insights — and a dance break — with the graduating class at Chicago’s United Center, while NU President Michael Schill acknowledged challenging realities that universities are facing from the Trump administration.
Carell acknowledged difficult realities, too, telling the graduates, “My kids are right around your age, and it’s difficult for me to process just how much you’ve all experienced in your young lives. I feel your anxiety and your fears about the world around you and it’s heartbreaking to me. You have already had to overcome a lifetime’s worth of turmoil and uncertainty and it doesn’t seem fair,” Carell said.
“My wife and I do what we can to help our children through these troubling times and I’d like to give you the same advice we give to them,” he continued. “Remember the little things, like being kind and that you’re not alone. Take care of one another. Remember to laugh when you have the opportunity and to cry when necessary.
“And keep in mind, that as badly as you feel about the state of the world, your parents probably feel worse,” Carell quipped. “Use that, take advantage of that. Now is the perfect time to exploit your parent’s guilt and to emotionally blackmail them. They might even let you live in the basement for an extra six months,” he joked.
Mid-speech, Carell interjected a dance break to The Ting Ting’s That’s Not My Name, taking the floor with E. Patrick Johnson, Dean of the School of Communication and Annenberg University Professor at Northwestern, and running down from the stage to high five graduates as they, as well as faculty on stage, moved to the beat.
“That was as invigorating as it was disturbing,” Carell said after dancing with students in the audience. “Wow, am I out of shape,” he said. “I will forever — I’m so out of breath right now,” he laughed, taking a deep breath.
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Carell also dipped into history, observing, “As Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg address, “‘You will little note, nor long remember, what I say here.’ Then yes, Lincoln was right. No one remembers the Gettysburg address,” he quipped, to laughter. “But maybe, just maybe, you will remember this one.”
Carell also gave a nod to his time in Chicago, saying he attended the Northwestern Summer High School Institute for Theater, where his introduction to improv comedy inspired him to pursue studying and performing with the Second City comedy troupe.
Schill commented on the university’s most pressing issues, which he said are affecting other universities and colleges around the nation.
“Universities, including Northwestern, are under attack,” Schill said. “We are far from perfect, but everyone in this arena — particularly you — know how vital our mission is. We innovate. We discover cures to diseases, and we solve problems that pose a risk to the future of our planet. We contribute to art, to culture, to social mobility and progress and most importantly, we educate you.”
Earlier this year, the Trump administration froze $790 million in federal funds to the university. Northwestern University announced a hiring freeze and other budget cuts in the last week, which have also disrupted the school’s research and development projects.
In 2024, Schill was summoned to testify to a Congressional committee, where lawmakers grilled him over the school’s reaction to pro-Palestinian protests on campus grounds earlier that spring.The Trump administration has also launched two investigations into alleged acts of anti-semitism, through the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Despite the chaos in the world around us, every time I spend time with you I feel optimistic about the future.”
“My generation has a made a mess of this world, but each of you has within you the ability to save it. Remain true to what you have learned here. Stay focused on what is real and not what you want to believe.”
“And never lose the quality that brought you here in the first place: your curiosity and your desire to contribute to a better world,” Schill said.