Journalist Scott Pelley tells graduates ‘Your country needs you’
In a speech filled with urgency and hope, award-winning ’60 Minutes’ journalist and author Scott Pelley delivered a powerful commencement message to Wake Forest University’s Class of 2025, telling them, “Your country needs you.”
“America works well when we listen to those with whom we disagree and when we listen and when we have common ground, and when we compromise. And one thing we can all agree on – one thing at least – is that America is at her best when everyone is included,” he said.
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Wake Forest 2025 Commencement
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Wake Forest Commencement 2025 Archive
Pelley encouraged graduates to embrace their roles as engaged and responsible citizens. He drew upon his long career interviewing world leaders and covering critical global events.
In her remarks, President Susan R. Wente also called on graduates to take positive action: “Use your voice for good. Use your courage to lift others. Use your education to serve the world.”
Pelley has interviewed five U.S. presidents, from George H.W. Bush to Joe Biden, as well as Pope Francis, conservationist Jane Goodall, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. He reported on the September 11 terrorist attacks and the destruction from Hurricane Katrina and has covered the human cost in war zones worldwide.
In Pelley’s interview with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President shared that when Russia invaded his country, he looked at himself in the mirror and asked, “Who are you?”
Pelley posed the same fundamental question to the graduates: “Who are you?” – challenging them to define their purpose in a world facing significant challenges.
“We are handing you the baton. Run with it.”
Scott Pelley
“This world is going to tell you ‘no’ a thousand times, but listen to the song in your heart. You only lose if you quit. Do not settle,” Pelley said.
About Commencement 2025
Wake Forest also celebrated a significant milestone with the Class of 2025. “Among you sits our 100,000th graduate,” said Provost Michele Gillespie. “While we do not know exactly who that is, we celebrate the collective meaning of this moment.”
The University honored more than 2,000 graduates, including 1,218 undergraduates and 1,086 graduate and professional school students. Nine ROTC students were commissioned as officers and 43 retiring faculty from Wake Forest’s Reynolda Campus and the School of Medicine were celebrated.
After the graduates tossed their hats, they processed down the middle aisle to be congratulated by faculty waiting to greet them.
“At the very heart of a Wake Forest education is a special relationship between our Wake Forest faculty and students,” Gillespie said. “You are part of a continuum stretching back nearly two centuries, and your legacy will shape the century to come.”
Want to relive the WFU commencement excitement? Watch the full graduation ceremony for the class of 2025.
For more great moments from commencement, view this photo story.
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