NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – Secretary of State John Kerry took a poke at the NBA’s controversy surrounding Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling during a speech at Yale University’s Class Day.
Joking about college and pop culture at the start of his speech Sunday, Kerry told the Ivy League graduates: “You are … the most diverse class in Yale history. Or, as it’s called in the NBA, Donald Sterling’s worst nightmare.” The comment drew laughs from the audience.
The NBA commissioner has banned Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million following the release last month of a recording in which the Clippers’ owner makes racist remarks. The commissioner also called on owners to oust Sterling from the league.
According to a speaker at Class Day, students from 61 countries are graduating from Yale this weekend.
Kerry urged graduates to keep faith in government’s ability to break gridlock, even as many problems remain unsolved.
Kerry, a 1966 graduate of Yale, told students and their families, faculty and staff at the Ivy League school’s 313th commencement that some people don’t believe they can make a difference “and the sum difference of all of this is that we do not believe we can make a difference . we remain gridlocked.”
Over the years, Congress has enacted broad legislation protecting the environment and civil rights, said Kerry, a former U.S. senator from Massachusetts. But, he said, the need to reform immigration and grapple with climate change now remain undone.
“This daring journey of progress played out over years or decades,” he said. “Today, the felt needs are piling up while legislatures or foreign capitals seem frozen.”
Kerry told graduates to remain hopeful and be active participants in finding ways to bring about change.
“None of our problems are without solutions, but neither will they solve themselves,” he said. “It’s a matter of willpower, not capacity. It requires keeping faith with the ability of institutions to do big things when demanded.”
Kerry spoke at Yale Class Day 48 years ago, when he graduated. Then, he spoke about his impending service in the military and on the U.S. military presence around the world.
“In 1966, I suggested an excess of isolation has led to an excess of interventionism,” he said.
Now, he said America’s worldwide presence will not be diminished.
“If we can’t galvanize action . we invite instability, and I promise you, radical extremism is all-too-ready to fill the vacuum left behind,” Kerry said.
