Students Walk Out Of Jerry Seinfeld’s Commencement Speech

Some students at Duke University got up and left the commencement address given by comedian Jerry Seinfeld this weekend, marking the next disruption by anti-Israel demonstrators. The effort came after students interrupted graduation ceremonies in California and Michigan.

About three dozen students reportedly left the speech given by Seinfeld, who is Jewish.

The speaker was booed by some students when he was announced by college officials. The booing was then overshadowed by shouts of “Jerry” from seemingly a much larger portion of the crowd.

This is the problem with the media. The focus on a small handful of students walking out on Jerry Seinfeld’s speech has completely obscured any coverage of the actual speech, which is excellent, completely apolitical, and full of gems all young people need to hear.

Here it is in… pic.twitter.com/sgag2aQEHJ

— Ali A. Rizvi (@aliamjadrizvi) May 12, 2024

Seinfeld’s speech did not include any overt political statements and said that ultimately students should work hard, fall in love and pay attention.

“Effort always yields a positive value, even if the outcome of the effort is absolute failure of the desired result. This is a rule of life. Just swing the bat and pray is not a bad approach to a lot of things,” he said.

Seinfeld has remained fairly unpolitical during his time in the spotlight but has made a number of comments that appeared to place him on the left side of the political spectrum.

However, last month the comedian said that the left wing has made comedy worse in recent years.

“Well, guess what? Where is it? Where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and P.C.,” he said, referring to political correctness. The comedian also stated that there was too much fear of offending others in modern comedy.

In recent weeks, students disrupted a college graduation ceremony in Michigan. The state has been home to some of the most persistent protests during the ongoing war in the Middle East.

The state has a small but significant Muslim American population and has been a particular concern for the Biden 2024 campaign. Earlier this year a number of Arab American and Muslim American leaders called on their supporters not to support President Joe Biden in the Democratic Party presidential primary. Instead, thousands of voters selected ‘uncommitted’ on the ballots rather than supporting Biden.

There were also demonstrations during the graduation ceremony of Berkeley University in California, which has long been a hotbed for student activism.