On May 4, 2024, artist and activist John Legend was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa at Loyola Marymount University’s (LMU) 2024 Commencement Ceremony. Legend spoke to the graduating class of 2024, offering his wisdom and gratitude to the young graduates starting this new chapter in their lives.
With 12 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Tony Award, Paul S. Viviano, Chair of the Board of Trustees, described Legend as “a paragon of artistic achievement and social commitment.” Legend is the first African American man to join the exclusive EGOT club, holding the place among only 19 individuals worldwide. Along with his artistic achievements, he also founded Free America, a campaign built to alter the incarceration system through policy change and storytelling.
“John has dedicated himself to building just, equitable, and thriving communities, aligning seamlessly with our university’s mission to promote a culture of service, ethics, and advocacy,” Viviano said.
As Legend approached the podium, hundreds of audience members went quiet. Legend began his speech with gratitude for his degree. “I am very honored and grateful and humbled that I also will forever be a member of the LMU class of ‘24,” Legend expressed.
Legend then explained his educational journey and experience growing up. Born in Springfield, OH, Legend comes from a long line of preachers, evident in his simultaneously comforting and authoritative cadence. He then graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999.
“From your time here, you learn that the power of an education lies not in just acing the test, or landing a fancy consulting job like I did after college. Yes, I was a consultant for a while, believe it or not,” Legend said. “The power of education is that it empowers you to serve and to challenge you.”
Despite Legend’s initially lighthearted and inspiring tone, he soon touched on important global conflicts today. “It’s a heated time on our nation’s college campuses,” Legend said. “We’ve got roiling crises all around the world. Everything seems to be on fire. Places like Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Iran, even here at home, where the threat of autocracy continues to gather.”
Legend focused specifically on Israel-Palestine, as the conflict has sparked movement in college campuses across the U.S. “As you’ve learned here, there are profound limits to what war can accomplish,” Legend said. “War may wake territory, but it does not win hearts and minds. War can subjugate. But it cannot unify.”
While Legend explored the pitfalls of war, he also described the solution–love. The idea of “love” usually arises in one’s mind through two different avenues: Eros, romantic love, or Pathos, familial love. The third type of love not normally acknowledged, Agape, is specifically promoted at LMU, as it is a love rooted in the protection and uplifting of humanity.
“Agape emboldens us to love the people who are marching against us, even the people who try to silence or suppress us. Agape love dares us to believe deeply in our shared humanity and that we can find a way closer together,” Legend said.
Although Legend identified Agape love as a solution, he acknowledged the potential skepticism at the idea. “Now, I can imagine what at least a few of you are thinking: all this kumbaya talk is nice. Thousands of people are dying. How can it be that in the face of war and autocracy and ethnic conflict, after all the compounding trauma of our recent past, to just love more? I can understand your skepticism. But hear me out,” Legend said.
Legend then referenced his idols as a child. Rather than superheroes, Legend gathered inspiration from the teachings and ideologies of civil rights icons such as Martin Luther King Jr, Frederick Douglass, Dr. Kane, and more, emphasizing the power of Agape love in the face of distress. “Together, they summon the power of Agape during other periods of turbulence and transformation to challenge America to live up to its founding aspirations, to challenge all of us to make the American project up, step by step, ballot by ballot, protest by protest, law by law,” Legend said.
Legend inspired graduates to spread Agape through each facet of their lives, emphasizing the real-world impacts of uplifting humanity, even on a smaller scale. Legend never hesitated to speak his mind, encouraging young graduates to do the same.
“Our problems are not neat. The solutions are not easy,” Legend said. “And I’m not going to suggest that they are. But I believe and I’m certain your professors do too, that great education teaches you that your job is to challenge assumptions, to question the status quo, and to interrogate the common wisdom.”