I have to say, to be here now, speaking  with all of you — in Yankee Stadium,  

one of the greatest places in one of the greatest  cities on Earth — is more than a little humbling.  

My friends, you are now NYU graduates — the best  and the brightest. You have great potential and  

possibilities. And therefore, you have enormous  responsibility, too. So today, I’d like to talk  

about the nature of both those things, and I’d  like to offer you a challenge. One that I think is  

essential for your future success as individuals,  and as the leaders that you are becoming.

Among the many things I admire about NYU, is that  about a fifth of the students are international.  

And a similar proportion are the very  first in their families to go to college.  

This group is truly diverse in every possible  way. And I think that is an extraordinarily  

valuable and important thing. When I graduated in  the early 1990s, I went on a trip around the world  

with a few good friends — who actually remain good  friends to this day, which is sort of a miracle.

We trekked and traveled, mostly over land, from  Europe to Africa to Asia. And that remains one  

of the great formative experiences of  my life. It was an amazing adventure.

It was also a really important contributor  to my continued, broader education. Because  

it forced me, really for the first time as an  adult, to meet, engage, befriend people whose  

views and experiences, ideas, values and  language were very different from my own.  

When a kid from Montreal meets a Korean  fisherman living in Mauritania, befriends  

a Russian veteran of their Afghan war, or a  shopkeeper and his family living in Danang,  

interesting conversations always happen.  Now, maybe some of you have talked about  

doing something like a great trip like that  after graduation. But I’d be willing to bet  

one of the first things you heard was a warning:  “You can’t do that in this day and age. It’s not  

safe!” But here’s my question: Is it really just  the issue of physical safety that makes our loved  

ones so anxious at the idea of us getting out  there, or is it the threat that if we look past  

our frames — the frames of our own lives,  of our own community’s structured values and  

belief systems — to truly engage with people  who believe fundamentally different things,  

we could perhaps be transformed into someone new  and unfamiliar to those who know and love us?

See, there’s no question that today’s world is  more complex than it was in the mid-1990s. There  

are serious and important problems that we are  grappling with and will continue to grapple with.

But we are not going to arrive at mutual  respect, which is where we solve common problems,  

if we cocoon ourselves in an  ideological, social or intellectual  

bubble. Now, we can see it all around us —  there’s a peculiar fascination with dystopia  

in our culture today. You see it everywhere on  film and TV, but the truth is that, on balance,  

we have the good fortune to live in a time of  tremendous possibility and potential; a time  

when it is within our grasp to eliminate extreme  poverty, to end terrible diseases like malaria  

and TB, and to offer a real chance at  an education to everyone on this planet.

But for us to move forward, to keep moving and  moving forward, we have to do it together — all  

together. Humanity has to fight our tribal  mindset. We go to the same church? Cool, you’re  

in my tribe. You speak my language? You’re in my  tribe. You’re an NYU alumni? You’re in my tribe.  

You play Pokémon Go? You’re a vegetarian? You  like the Yankees? You go to the gun range?  

You’re pro-choice? Tribe, tribe, tribe. See…  But of course, its not the “belonging” part  

that is the problem, it’s the corollary:  You are part of my tribe, and they are not.

Whether it’s race, gender, language, sexual  orientation, religious or ethnic origin,  

or our beliefs and values themselves — diversity  doesn’t have to be a weakness. It can be our  

greatest strength. Now often, people talk about  striving for tolerance. Now, don’t get me wrong:  

there are places in this world where a little  more tolerance would go a long way, but if we’re  

being honest right here, right now, I think we  can aim a little higher than mere tolerance.

Think about it: Saying “I tolerate you” actually  means something like, “Ok, I grudgingly admit that  

you have a right to exist, just don’t get in my  face about it, and oh, don’t date my sister.”  

There’s not a religion in the world that  asks you to “tolerate thy neighbor.”  

So let’s try for something a  little more like acceptance,  

respect, friendship, and yes, even  love. And why does this matter? Because,  

in our aspiration to relevance; in our  love for our families; in our desire  

to contribute, to make this world a better place,  despite our differences, we are all the same.

And when you meet and befriend someone from  another country or another culture who speaks a  

different language or who worships differently,  you quickly realize this. And here’s my main  

point, and the challenge I’m offering you today.  Our celebration of difference needs to extend to  

differences of values and belief, too. Diversity  includes political and cultural diversity.  

It includes a diversity of perspectives  and approaches to solving problems. See,  

it’s far too easy, with social media shaping our  interactions, to engage only with people with whom  

we already agree — members of our tribe. Well,  this world is and must be bigger than that.

So here is my request: As you go forward  from this place, I would like you  

to make a point of reaching out to people whose  beliefs and values differ from your own. I would  

like you to listen to them, truly listen, and try  to understand them, and find that common ground.  

You have a world of opportunity at your  fingertips. But as you go forward from here,  

understand that just around the corner, a  whole different order of learning awaits,  

in which your teachers will come from every  station in life, every education level,  

every belief system, every lifestyle. And I hope  you will embrace that. You have been students,  

you will continue to learn all your lives, but  now it is also time for you to become leaders.

In every generation, leaders emerge because they  

one day awake to the realization that  it’s not up to someone else to fix  

this problem, or take up that cause. It’s up  to them. So now is the time for you to lead.

Leaders. Now, I’m sure that’s a word that’s been  tossed around you and at you quite a bit over the  

past few hours, days, weeks and years. Leaders of  tomorrow. Leaders of today. But what does it mean?  

What attributes does a 21st century leader  need to have? What do people need most  

from their leaders today and tomorrow?  Now, I think you need to be brave.  

Really brave. And I know, when  you think of courageous leaders,  

you think of those folks who stood implacably and  fearlessly, anchored in their sense of rightness,  

willing to pit their ideals against all comers,  against the slings and arrows aimed their way.  

Well, I don’t think that’s brave enough. I  don’t think that’s good enough for what our  

shared future will ask of you. I actually  don’t think it’s ever been good enough.

Leadership has always been about getting  people to act in common cause. “We’re going  

to build a new country! We’re going  to war! We’re going to the moon!”  

It usually required convincing, or coercing, a  specific group to follow you. And the easiest  

way to do that has always been through tribal  contrasts: “They believe in a different God!  

They speak a different language! They don’t want  the same things as we do.” But the leadership  

we need most today and in the years to come  is leadership that brings people together.  

That brings diversity to a common cause.  This is the antithesis of the polarization,  

the aggressive nationalism, the identity  politics that have grown so common of late.  

It’s harder, of course. It’s always been  easier to divide than unite. But mostly,  

it requires true courage. Because if you want  to bring people around to your way of thinking,  

you need to first show them  that you are open to theirs.  

That you are willing to enter into a conversation  that might change your mind. Show respect  

for their point of view, and you have a better  chance of actually having them listen to yours.  

And regardless of what happens, you will have had  a genuine exchange that focused on understanding,  

not on winning a debate or scoring points.  And you will both be improved for it.

Let me be very clear: this  is not an endorsement of  

moral relativism or a declaration that  all points of view are valid. Female  

genital mutilation is wrong, no matter  how many generations have practiced it.  

Anthropogenic climate change is real, no  matter how much some folks want to deny it.  

But here’s the question: do you want to win  an argument and feel good about how superior  

you are? Or do you actually want  to change behaviors and beliefs?  

See, it’s been pointed out that one of the  many differences between Abraham Lincoln and  

Jefferson Davis was that Davis preferred to win  a debate, while Lincoln would rather win the war.  

And that’s the question: Do you want to win an  argument or do you want to change the world?

“With malice toward none, and charity toward  all.” Let those words of this country’s greatest  

president guide your ambitions, your hopes  for yourselves, your families, your country,  

your planet. There is no shortage of  cynicism and selfishness in the world.  

Be their answer, their antidote. I am abundantly  optimistic about the future because of you. It  

is yours to make and mold and shape. The world  eagerly awaits, indeed requires, your ideas.  

Your initiative. Your enterprise. Your energy.  Your passion and compassion. Your idealism,  

and your ambition. But remember that true courage  is the essential ingredient in all your efforts.

Congratulations, Class of  2018. Now go change the world.

Merci!