Conan O'Brien advises Harvard grads to downplay degrees, embrace humility

By PulseAugur Editorial · [2 sources] · 2026-05-29 12:10

Comedian Conan O’Brien delivered Harvard’s commencement address, advising graduates to downplay their prestigious degrees and embrace humility. He shared personal anecdotes about how his Harvard background initially presented stereotypes that hindered his comedy career. O’Brien encouraged graduates to let their achievements be the least important thing known about them, fostering connection and growth by de-emphasizing singular successes. AI

RANK_REASON The cluster consists of news articles reporting on a commencement speech, which falls under commentary.

Read on Fortune →

Harvard University

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 2 sources. How we write summaries →

Conan O'Brien advises Harvard grads to downplay degrees, embrace humility

COVERAGE [2]

Fortune TIER_1 English(EN) · Preston Fore · 2026-05-29 16:02

Conan O’Brien tells Harvard graduates to play down their $250K Ivy League degree—and instead embrace being humble and ‘bad at things’

Comedian Conan O’Brien said his Harvard education sometimes hurt his career—and now he’s urging Gen Z not to let a degree define them.
Fortune TIER_1 English(EN) · Michael Casey, The Associated Press · 2026-05-29 12:10

Conan O’Brien’s advice to Harvard grads is to forget Harvard as soon as they can

“Maybe my wish," O'Brien told the class of 2026, is that "Harvard become the least important thing people know about you.”

COVERAGE [2]

Conan O’Brien tells Harvard graduates to play down their $250K Ivy League degree—and instead embrace being humble and ‘bad at things’

Conan O’Brien’s advice to Harvard grads is to forget Harvard as soon as they can

RELATED ENTITIES

RELATED TOPICS