--- description: Read Barack Obama's commencement address at University of California-Irvine. title: Read Obama's 2014 Commencement Address at UC-Irvine image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fb9a9cb2d9f6ed4/698893f0ab6d775e7a6a9c19/obama-uc-irvine-2014.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 University of California-Irvine  by [Barack Obama](/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 19, 2016 7:25 PM CUT  President Barack Obama speaks at the UC Irvine commencement ceremony on June 14, 2014 in Anaheim, California. President Barack Obama speaks at the UC Irvine commencement ceremony on June 14, 2014 in Anaheim, California.Pool/Getty Images  by [Barack Obama](/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 19, 2016 7:25 PM CUT Here are the [full remarks](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/14/remarks-president-university-california-irvine-commencement-ceremony "undefined") from President Obama’s speech at University of California-Irvine in Anaheim, California, in 2014. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4341811/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-university-of-california-irvine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4341811/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-university-of-california-irvine/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at University of California-Irvine","datePublished":"2016-05-19T19:25:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:41:19.099Z","description":"\"I’m here to tell you, don’t believe the cynicism\"","url":"https://time.com/4341811/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-university-of-california-irvine/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fb9a9cb2d9f6ed4/698893f0ab6d775e7a6a9c19/obama-uc-irvine-2014.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/blt9fb9a9cb2d9f6ed4/698893f0ab6d775e7a6a9c19/obama-uc-irvine-2014.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Speaks At UC Irvine Commencement Ceremony","caption":"President Obama Speaks At UC Irvine Commencement Ceremony","creditText":"Pool/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/4341811/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-university-of-california-irvine/","name":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at University of California-Irvine"}}]}] ```