--- ---  # Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Hampton University  by [Barack Obama](https://time.com/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Jun 2, 2016 6:29 PM UTC  President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address at Hampton University on May 9, 2010 in Hampton, VA. President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address at Hampton University on May 9, 2010 in Hampton, VA.Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Barack Obama](https://time.com/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Jun 2, 2016 6:29 PM UTC Here are the [full remarks](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-hampton-university-commencement) from Obama’s speech on Hampton University’s campus in Hampton, Virginia in 2010. --- > “” --- Barack Obama at Hampton: Commencement Address Transcript ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4340815/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-hampton-university/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4340815/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-hampton-university/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Hampton University","datePublished":"2016-06-02T18:29:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:39:10.295Z","description":"\"What ultimately makes us American, quintessentially American, is something that can’t be taught\"","url":"https://time.com/4340815/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-hampton-university/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d5203c50b36c315/698893c7f887dc1acae95ea3/barack-obama-hampton-university-2010.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/blt3d5203c50b36c315/698893c7f887dc1acae95ea3/barack-obama-hampton-university-2010.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Barack Obama Delivers the Commencement Address at Historically Black Hampton University","caption":"President Barack Obama Delivers the Commencement Address at Historically Black Hampton University","creditText":"Washington Post/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/4340815/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-hampton-university/","name":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at Hampton University"}}]}] ```