My 2025 SMPA Commencement Address

This is GWU’s commencement weekend. I was asked to give some remarks to the School of Media and Public Affairs’s (SMPA’s) graduation celebration.

My remarks are below. I figure, if I’m going to take the time to write a speech, I might as well share it on the blog.

TL;DR: this is a remarkably hard time to be starting a career in media or political communication, but I remain stubbornly proud of, and confident in, our students.

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Congratulations grads, and welcome families. It’s so wonderful to see you all.

This is a unique time to be graduating from SMPA. We have two majors in the School of Media and Public Affairs – political communication and journalism and mass communication. Both of those majors consist of, basically, staring into the void and coming up with something clever to say about it.

(Just think… you could’ve majored in something like engineering instead!)

For those of you who don’t know me, I teach a class on the history of the digital future. I am finishing a book on the topic as well. So I think I can speak with some authority in saying that there has not been a time in recent memory when the future was quite so unclear as it is right now.

That existential uncertainty comes from two places. (1) We don’t know what generative AI will mean for the types of work you all are setting out to specialize in. And (2) we don’t know what the future of our political system will be.

It is a strange time to be getting started as a political communications professional or as a journalist.

But this also isn’t entirely new. I graduated in May 2002, the first class to graduate after 9/11. I earned my PhD in 2009, just after the great financial crisis. I am, it seems, terribly bad luck. Those were both periods of peak uncertainty. The arc of history is long and it… certainly seems to bend.

That having been said, as I look at the group assembled here today, I am filled with a mix of confidence and pride. You are SMPAers. SMPAers are total badasses. The world needs more badasses right now. You’ve got this.

The real value of an SMPA degree is threefold. It’s the degree itself, sure. It’s also a set of skills and critical faculties. I do not know what the future holds. No one does. But I am certain we will still need communicators, storytellers, critical thinkers and strategists.

And it’s a community, as well. SMPA is a community. Wherever you go next, I want you to know that you are not going alone. We’re pretty tight-knit. We have your back. And you have each other’s backs. This is an ending, but it isn’t the end. It’s also the beginning of a new chapter for all of you. There is still so much more to come.

Now I want to end with two pieces of advice and one homework assignment.

Piece of advice #1: You’re about to start a dramatically new chapter of your life. You have just completed the 16th grade. Your life up until now has been organized around curriculum and class schedules, internships and grades. Your social world has been anchored in educational institutions. What comes next will be different. It is an objectively hard transition. It is, in a word, jarring.

That’s true for every college graduate everywhere. But what I want to say to you all specifically is that, in starting this next chapter, it is important to seek balance. Find the things that make you happy. The things that make you you. Make sure to make time for them.

I especially want to say that to you because SMPAers, as a group, have zero chill. Culturally, y’all do not take enough breaks and do not get enough sleep. This next chapter is going to be a long one, with many twists and turns. Rest up, hydrate, and seek balance. It’ll help you in the long run.

Piece of advice #2: Find your voice. Never stop finding your voice.

Y’know what most bums me out about generative AI products like ChatGPT? They make everyone sound the same. This is baked into the product itself — it is, at base, a guess-the-next-word engine, a cliche-generator. And whether you think it’s the future or you thinks it’s a hype bubble, it sure seems like we’re going to be awash in the stuff for the next few years.

In a world where everyone sounds the same, the competitive advantage will always go to the people who can speak in their own, distinct voice. You have years of practice cultivating that skill here in SMPA. That gives you a head start. But you are not done yet.

I’ve spent about fifteen years trying to develop my own voice as a writer. I think, given another two or three years, I will finally get the hang of it. I have thought that for a good long while. Come back and check in with me at your ten-year reunion: I suspect I’ll still be two or three years away.

You never finish finding your voice. You never finish developing your craft. And there has never been a more important time to find the right words to say.

And that brings me to your homework assignment: (Parents in the audience, please cover your ears for this one) This weekend is an ending. I require you to spend the weekend properly celebrating. …Make it a week, in fact.

But this isn’t the end of your education. All of your professors are still learning. All of our alumni are still learning too. There are more hills to climb, more problems to solve, more stories to tell.

So take the week. Follow your arrow wherever it points. And then decide what you want to learn next.

…And keep in touch. We’re here for you. Wherever you go, you go with SMPA.