--- description: Read Barack Obama's commencement address at Barnard College in 2012. title: Barack Obama at Barnard: Commencement Address Transcript image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta563626ab15cab6b/698893e42dce014bcd9e9241/obama-barnard-20126.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Barnard College  by [Barack Obama](/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 2, 2016 6:32 PM CUT  President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address at Barnard College on May 14, 2012 in New York. President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address at Barnard College on May 14, 2012 in New York.Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images  by [Barack Obama](/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 2, 2016 6:32 PM CUT Here are the [full remarks](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/14/remarks-president-barnard-college-commencement-ceremony "undefined") from Obama’s speech at Barnard College in New York, New York in 2012. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4341560/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-barnard-college/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4341560/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-barnard-college/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Barnard College","datePublished":"2016-06-02T18:32:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:40:44.091Z","description":"\"Reach up and close that gap between what America is and what America should be\"","url":"https://time.com/4341560/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-barnard-college/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta563626ab15cab6b/698893e42dce014bcd9e9241/obama-barnard-20126.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Barack Obama","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/barack-obama/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta563626ab15cab6b/698893e42dce014bcd9e9241/obama-barnard-20126.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US President Barack Obama delivers the c","caption":"US President Barack Obama delivers the c","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4341560/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-barnard-college/","name":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Barnard College"}}]}] ```