As students around the country graduate this month and next, one of the most exciting parts of their graduation ceremonies is listening to the advice of high profile commencement speakers. Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, reminded students at the University of California, Berkeley to not take failures too personally. President Obama told Rutgers University graduates that lending someone a helping hand is always better than going at it alone. And yesterday, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, reminded students at the University of Pennsylvania that "immigrants get the job done."
Miranda, who received an honorary Doctor of Arts from the Ivy League, delivered a powerful rebuke to the anti-immigration rhetoric that's dominated the 2016 presidential election.
"I know that many of you made miracles happen to get to this day. I know that parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, and family behind you made miracles happen to be here," he told students.
"In a year when politicians traffic in anti-immigrant rhetoric, there is also a Broadway musical reminding us that a broke, orphan immigrant from the West Indies built our financial system," Lin-Manuel continued, referencing the star of his celebrated work, Alexander Hamilton. “[It's] a story that reminds us that since the beginning of the great, unfinished symphony that is our American experiment, time and time again, immigrants get the job done.”
While Lin-Manuel did not mention any politicians by name, many are guessing that he was referring to Donald Trump, who has made immigrants a central theme of his presidential campaign. From promising to build a wall across our southern border with Mexico to suggesting a ban on Muslims entering the country, Trump has repeatedly harped on invented fears instead of real solutions. And as President Obama said to Rutgers graduates on Saturday, "The world is more interconnected than ever before, and it's becoming more connected every day. Building walls won't change that."
Lin-Manuel's comments on immigration were met with a standing ovation. So even though Trump has won the Republican nomination, and is now only one step away from becoming our president, it's good to know that many of our nation's brightest minds don't subscribe to his version of America.
You can watch Lin-Manuel's full address above.
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