Baccalaureate
(pronounced “bak-uh-lawr-ee-it”)
Baccalaureate at Stanford is a celebratory gathering for graduating seniors, graduate students, and professional students, as well as their families and friends. It is a time to acknowledge the spiritual contribution to the education of the whole person, and it is organized under the auspices of the Office for Religious Life.
For the current event information regarding Baccalaureate, please visit:
http://commencement.stanford.edu/ceremonies/baccalaureate/
Student Speaker Contest
Baccalaureate Student Speaker 2015 – Shelby Sinclair
Photo: LA Cicero/Stanford News Service
Be the only student speaker during Commencement Weekend at Stanford’s Baccalaureate ceremony on Saturday, June 11 in the Main Quadrangle!
Since 2005, the Office for Religious Life has hosted a student speaker contest, where a graduating senior offers his/her reflections into their own spiritual journey during their time at Stanford, including hopes and dreams for the future for the entire class.
- Speech cannot exceed 600 words
- Entries accepted now through Wednesday, April 27, 11:59 pm
- No exceptions to the deadline
- Submit your speech in Word format at
- Finalists wil be contacted by Tuesday, May 3 and MUST be available for auditions on Wednesday, May 4 between 7:00 – 8:30 pm
- $500 prize will be awarded to the winner
Past winners, and available texts or videos, are listed below.
2005 Jazib Zahir (Electrical Engineering)
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/zahir-061505.html
2006 Marley Cade Kornreic (Economics, International Relations)
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2006/june21/bacckorntext-062106.html
2007 Nikki Pareno Serapio (Political Science)
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2007/june20/bactwo-062007.html
2008 Barry W. Fischer (Economics, Civil and Engineering (MS))
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/june18/bacbarry-061808.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuL7qreqHuE
2009 Sohail Razzaq (Economics, Management Science & Engineering (MS))
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/june17/razzaq-text-061709.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RwmymaeZx0
2010 Zaid Adhami (Philosophy, Religious Studies)
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7cfaG9j26A
2011 Samuel Gould (Biology)
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwtCmfVAcw0
2012 Tara Gu (Public Policy)
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/june/baccalaureate-student-text-061612.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YsRPpeSt7s
2013 Jonathan York (International Relations)
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/june/york-baccalaureate-speech-061513.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnfm1Eb5BHQ
2014 Konstantine Buhler (Management Science and Engineering)
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/june/student-baccalaureate-text-061414.html
Video: http://youtu.be/hN9p__BHHDs
2015 Winner: Shelby Sinclair (Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity)
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/student-baccalaureate-text-061315.html
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SsfL14xwbc#t=1h06m25s
