- I would like now to introduce Jason King

Chair and Associate Professor

of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music,

Tisch School of the Arts,

who will present the candidate for Doctor of Fine Arts.

Will trustee, Brett Racon,

please escort the candidate to the lectern.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering)

- Taylor Swift

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

blazing singer, songwriter, producer, director, actress,

pioneering and influential advocate for artists' rights

and philanthropist.

You have brought joy and resolve

to your hundreds of millions of fans throughout the world.

(audience cheering)

One of the best selling music artists in history.

You have crossed genres, demographics, age groups

and borders of all kinds

to touch lives around the globe.

With nine original studio albums

two re-recorded studio albums,

(audience applauding) (audience cheering)

five extended plays, three live albums and 14 compilations.

You have sold well over 100 million album units,

(audience applauding) (audience cheering)

earning awards and honors in every category.

You have used the remarkable platform you earned

to galvanize support for the Equality Act

to prevent discrimination

on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering)

And you have spoken out

and you have supported initiatives

to protect women and girls

from harassment and sexual assaults.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering)

You have donated significantly

to victims of floods and tornadoes,

for cancer research, literacy programs for children

and public education.

You have fearlessly challenged the exploitation

of music artists

and successfully championed their right

to be compensated for their work.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering)

- Taylor Swift, (audience cheering)

you are a role model across the world

for your unprecedented talent and accomplishment,

your fierce advocacy

for protection of those facing discrimination

and your commitment to speaking out

forcefully, eloquently and effectively

on behalf of all artists.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

By virtue of the authority vested in me,

I am pleased to confer upon you

the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts honoris causa.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

(audience members cheering)

I am now pleased to introduce Taylor Swift,

who will respond

on behalf of the honorary degree recipients.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering)

- Hi, I'm Taylor.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering)

Last time I was in a stadium this size

I was dancing in heels and wearing a glittery leotard.

(podium members chuckling) (audience cheering)

This outfit is much more comfortable.

I would like to say a huge thank you

to NYU's Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Bill Berkeley

and all the trustees and members of the board.

NYU's President Andrew Hamilton, Provost Katherine Fleming

and the faculty and alumni here today,

who have made this day possible.

I feel so proud to share this day with my fellow honorees

Susan Hockfield and Félix Matos Rodríguez,

who humble me with the ways they improve our world

with their work.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering)

As for me, I'm 90% sure, the main reason I'm here

is because I have a song called "22."

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

And let me just say, I am elated to be here with you today,

as we celebrate and graduate

New York University's Class of 2022.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

Not a single one of us here today has done it alone.

We are each a patchwork quilt of those who have loved us,

those who have believed in our futures,

those who showed us empathy and kindness

or told us the truth, even when it wasn't easy to hear.

Those who told us we could do it

when there was absolutely no proof of that.

Someone read stories to you and taught you to dream

and offered up some moral code of right and wrong

for you to try and live by.

Someone, tried their best to explain every concept

in this insanely complex world,

to the child that was you,

as you asked a bazillion questions,

like how does the moon work

and why can we eat salad, but not grass?

(audience chuckles)

And maybe they didn't do it perfectly,

no one ever can.

Maybe they aren't with us anymore.

In that case, I hope you'll remember them today.

If they are in this stadium,

I hope you'll find your own way to express your gratitude

for all the steps and missteps

that have led us to this common destination.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

I know that words are supposed to be my thing

but I will never be able to find the words

to thank my mom and dad, my brother, Austin,

for the sacrifices they made every day,

so I could go from singing in coffee houses

to standing up here with you all today

because no words would ever be enough.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

To all the incredible parents, family members, mentors

teachers, allies, friends, and loved ones here today,

who have supported these students

in their pursuit of educational enrichment.

Let me say to you now welcome to New York,

it's been waiting for you.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

I'd like to thank NYU for making me

technically, on paper at least, a doctor.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

Not the type of doctor you would want around

in case of an emergency,

unless your specific emergency

was that you desperately needed to hear a song

with a catchy hook

and an intensely cathartic bridge section.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

Or if your emergency was that you needed a person

who can name over 50 breeds of cats in one minute.

(audience cheering)

I never got to have a normal college experience per se.

I went to public high school until 10th grade

and then finished my education,

doing homeschool work on the floors of airport terminals.

Then I went out on the road for radio tour

which sounds incredibly glamorous,

but in reality it consisted of a rental car, motels,

and my mom and I,

pretending to have loud mother-daughter fights

with each other during boarding,

so no one would want the empty seat between us on Southwest.

(audience chuckles)

As a kid, I always thought I would go away to college,

imagining the posters I would hang on the wall

of my freshman dorm.

I even set the ending of my music video

from my song "Love Story" at my fantasy imaginary college

where I meet a male model, reading a book on the grass.

And with one single glance

we realized we had been in love in our past lives

which is exactly what you guys all experienced

at some point in the last four years, right?

But I really can't complain

about not having a normal college experience to you

because you went to NYU during a global pandemic

being essentially locked into your dorms

and having to do classes over Zoom.

Everyone in college during normal times

stresses about test scores.

But on top of that

you also had to pass like a thousand COVID tests.

(audience chuckles)

I imagine the idea of a normal college experience

was all you wanted too.

But in this case, you and I both learned

that you don't always get all the things in the bag

that you selected from the menu

in the delivery surface that is life.

You get what you get.

And as I would like to say to you wholeheartedly

you should be very proud of what you've done with it.

Today, you leave New York University

and then go out into the world, searching what's next,

and so will I.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

So as a rule, I try not to give anyone unsolicited advice

unless they ask for it.

I'll go into this more later.

I guess I have been officially solicited in this situation

to impart whatever wisdom I might have

to tell you things that have helped me so far in my life.

Please bear in mind

that I in no way feel qualified to tell you what to do.

You've worked and struggled and sacrificed

and studied and dreamed your way here today.

And so, you know what you're doing

you'll do things differently

than I did them and for different reasons.

So I won't tell you to what to do

'cause no one likes that.

I will, however, give you some life hacks, I wish I knew

when I was starting out my dreams of a career

and navigating life, love, pressure, choices,

shame, hope, and friendship.

The first of which is, life can be heavy

especially if you try to carry it all at once.

Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life

is about catch and release.

What I mean by that is,

knowing what things to keep and what things to release.

You can't carry all things, all grudges

all updates on your ex,

all enviable promotions your school bully got

at the hedge fund his uncle started.

(audience chuckles)

Decide what is yours to hold and let the rest go.

Oftentimes, the good things in your life are lighter anyway,

so there's more room for them.

One toxic relationship

can outweigh so many wonderful, simple joys.

You get to pick what your life has time and room for.

Be discerning.

Secondly, learn to live alongside cringe.

(audience cheering) (audience laughing)

No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe,

you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

Cringe is unavoidable over a lifetime.

Even the term cringe might someday be deemed cringe.

I promise you're probably doing

or wearing something right now

that you will look back on later

and find revolting and hilarious.

(audience chuckles)

You can't avoid it, so don't try to.

For example I had a phase where for the entirety of 2012,

I dressed like a 1950's housewife

But you know what? I was having fun.

Trends and phases are fun.

Looking back and laughing is fun.

And while we're talking about things that make us squirm

but really shouldn't.

I'd like to say I'm a big advocate

for not hiding your enthusiasm for things.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding)

It seems to me that there is a false stigma around eagerness

in our culture of unbothered, ambivalence.

This outlook perpetuates the idea

that it's not cool to want it.

That people who don't try

are fundamentally more chic than people who do.

And I wouldn't know because I've been a lot of things

but I've never been an expert on chic

but I'm the one who's up here,

so you have to listen to me when I say this,