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graduation

May 16, 2014, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts

A graduation diploma: “The Eviction Notice Written in Latin”

Spalding Gray’s “The Graduation Speech I Never Made” reads like a warm-up exercise created by an anxious speechwriter. Its concluding sentences, which include strikeouts and misspelled words, read: “I’m sorry to say I have no advice to give. How could I deign [sic] to give advice when my life is held together like an ill-made birds nest, and I am still surprised as well as shocked by each new dawn?”

This week, The University of Texas at Austin prepares its podiums and fireworks for Saturday’s commencement ceremony, the 131st in the school’s history.

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Ransom Center Magazine Fall 2025

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