Those unfamiliar with “The Office” may have been surprised when Northwestern commencement speaker Steve Carell called out rapper BigXthaPlug for missing Dillo Day, danced mid-speech with Communication Dean E. Patrick Johnson and confided to the Class of 2025 that “I don’t talk good,” at the United Center on Sunday.
But for those who have laughed, cringed and cried at Michael Scott’s workplace antics, Carell’s light-hearted, sincere call to be kind, listen and lead with respect — underscored by humor and self-deprecating anecdotes — was entirely on brand.
“I’d like to talk about something quite simple, something that is important to me, and something that I believe we need more of in the world,” Carell said. “My topic this morning is kindness. So please just shut up and listen.”
At the very least, the actor and comedian said, NU’s graduating class should strive for “pretty kindness,” which he described as practicing “basic human decency.”
A great starting point, he said, would be to always return their — and others’ — shopping carts.
“Remember that kindness isn’t a weakness. It is a very potent strength,” Carell said.
Carell has won a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Writers Guild of America Awards. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 2015 for his role in “Foxcatcher” and 11 Primetime Emmy Awards throughout his three-decades-long career.
Recognized by his roles in “The Office,” “The Morning Show,” “Despicable Me,” “The Big Short,” “Vice” and more, Carell is father to Annie Carell (Communication ’23) and Communication junior Johnny Carell.
About 3,000 seniors and 11,000 guests packed the United Center to laugh, cry and embrace each other as the students concluded their years as a Wildcat.
During Commencement 2023, one of those guests was Steve Carell, who attended to support his daughter. Fittingly, Carell’s speech this year fell on Father’s Day.
“Happy Father’s Day,” Steve Carell said. “I’m sorry that this celebration of your child has ruined your special day.”
Steve Carell said he and his wife, Nancy, occasionally feel guilty for the state of the world their children live in. He joked that NU’s graduating seniors should capitalize on their parents’ guilt and use it to “live in the basement for an extra six months.”
Johnson, who introduced the marquis speaker, praised Carell’s charitable work, recalled Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s “The Office”-themed 2023 commencement speech and said Carell’s speech was “a long time coming” — and quipped, “That’s what she said.”
“(Carell) has solidified bragging rights for all of you for years to come when friends and future coworkers will inevitably ask, ‘Wait, who was your commencement speaker at Northwestern?’ Steve freaking Carell? That is freaking amazing!’ It sure is,” Johnson said. “That’s what I said.”
Johnson added that Carell is a “living legend” who “has edged his way into our collective cultural reference repository.”
Lucas Saidenberg (Weinberg ’25) said the commencement ceremony felt “surreal,” and added that he enjoyed Carell’s speech.
“I like how he focused on kindness, and I knew that he was gonna make it funny, but there were a lot of genuine parts to it, and it was also hilarious, which is a good combo,” Saidenberg said.
Carell was also one of four people to receive honorary doctorate degrees at Sunday’s ceremony from University President Michael Schill and Provost Kathleen Hagerty. The other recipients were poet Toi Derricotte, retired U.S. Navy Admiral Lisa Franchetti (Medill ’85) and biologist Marc Kirschner (Weinberg ’66).
Hagerty also recognized 35 emeritus faculty upon their retirement from full-time service at NU, thanking them for their dedication to the University.
The ceremony also featured two student speakers: Bryana Barry (SESP M.S. ’24, Communication ’18) — who graduated in December — and Clary Doyle (Weinberg ’25).
In her speech, Barry emphasized the importance of “content versus context,” arguing that the Sunday ceremony was a celebration for the latter.
“Northwestern is one of the top educational institutions in the world, but that isn’t because of the syllabi we receive each quarter,” Barry said. “It’s because of the people. It’s because of the faculty who push us to think beyond the material, who challenge us to ask, ‘How does this affect me, my community, the world?’”
Barry said NU was “the water that helped us bloom” and the graduates’ supporters were “the soil that gave us roots.”
In a similar vein, Doyle said she came to NU looking for big answers to bigger questions; but, as a philosophy major, she learned that challenging her views and becoming comfortable with doubt is more important.
“We are not being taught faith,” Doyle said. “We are not learning to blindly believe. We are learning to doubt and to question and to criticize.”
She said this open-mindedness is the reason higher education is under attack, not fears of being “inculcated into the cult of science and liberal ideology.”
Every Thursday, Doyle said, she went to Evanston’s Celtic Knot Public House to debate moral and political issues, which taught her to seek answers while still accepting doubt.
“Graduation speeches usually end with a call to change the world, but the truth is this world will change whether or not you do anything about it,” Doyle said. “So instead, I encourage you to do something much harder, something more important, and that is to change your minds.”
Sophie Dix (Weinberg ’25), an international student from Ireland and member of NU’s field hockey team, said she appreciated Carell’s humor and learned a lot from her undergraduate experience in Evanston.
Her mother, Jean Dix said that, reflecting on her daughter’s four years, she is “very happy” her daughter attended NU.
“Northwestern is a place where thinking independently is valued,” Sophie Dix said. “There’s an element of backing up your opinions, and that’s something that, in the classroom, they really emphasize and encourage. I enjoy being able to speak freely and respectfully.”
Schill’s message to NU’s graduating seniors was simple: remain curious, emphatic and tolerant.
“My generation has made a mess of this world,” Schill said. “But each one of you has the ability within you to save it.”
Schill said universities, including NU, are “under attack,” and reminded seniors of the school’s mission of research and progress in his speech. Despite current challenges, he said, this graduating class makes him optimistic about the future.
He concluded his speech with a resounding “Go ‘Cats!”
“As you move onto the next phase of your life, we will all be rooting for you,” Schill said. “Know, each and every one of you, that you are loved, that you are appreciated, and that we are so immensely proud of you.”
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