--- description: Oh, and he also offered plenty of humor and wisdom title: Joe Biden Obviously Wore Aviators During His Entire Yale Graduation Speech image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Joe Biden Obviously Wore Aviator Sunglasses During His Entire Yale Graduation Speech by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2015 4:58 PM CUT by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2015 4:58 PM CUT Joe Biden delivered a very Joe Biden commencement address at Yale University’s “Class Day” ceremony Sunday. He began by acknowledging that he’s known for speaking his mind: “I realize no one ever doubts I mean what I say. The problem occasionally is I say all that I mean. I have a bad reputation for being straight, sometimes at inappropriate times.” He maintained his signature straightforwardness throughout the speech — and also wore his signature aviator sunglasses the whole time. He managed to poke fun at both Yale’s athletic shortcomings and his own political shortcomings, with jokes like, “One touchdown away from beating Harvard this year for the first time since 2006,” he said. “So close to something you wanted for eight years. I can only imagine how you feel. I can only imagine. So close. So close.” But the VP also offered some valuable advice to the graduates. “Intellectual horsepower and tolerance alone does not make a generation great unless you can break out of the bubble of your own making, technologically, geographically, racially, socially,” Biden said. “To truly connect with the world around you because it matters. No matter your material success, it matters.” To watch Biden’s full speech, skip ahead one hour and 10 minutes in the video above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3882531/joe-biden-yale-graduation-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3882531/joe-biden-yale-graduation-speech/"},"headline":"Joe Biden Obviously Wore Aviator Sunglasses During His Entire Yale Graduation Speech","datePublished":"2015-05-18T16:58:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:19:57.945Z","description":"Oh, and he also offered plenty of humor and wisdom","url":"https://time.com/3882531/joe-biden-yale-graduation-speech/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3882531/joe-biden-yale-graduation-speech/","name":"Joe Biden Obviously Wore Aviator Sunglasses During His Entire Yale Graduation Speech"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Best Celeb Graduation Speeches","description":"The best moments of celebrity commencement speeches from the past decade including Stephen Colbert and Steve Jobs","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ANHI2RmH/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-05-16T19:42:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ANHI2RmH.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3882531/joe-biden-yale-graduation-speech/","duration":"PT3M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3882531/joe-biden-yale-graduation-speech/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```