It has been an eventful past week or two, both nationally and here at Grinnell, and our alumni have been at the forefront of a lot of it. Over the next week or so I'll be profiling some of the highlights.
To kick things off, Grinnell's commencement speaker this year was comedian and 2001 grad Kumail Nanjiani. Kumail's fame has steadily grown, likely boosted by his role on HBO's Silicon Valley. This summer he'll be starring in The Big Sick, a semi-autobiographical story he and his wife wrote together.
Kumail covered a wide range of topics in his address, both serious and hilarious. The line that got the best reaction was his take on how to ensure you'll be on the right side of history when it comes to the immigration debate in this country, and is at the beginning of this clip: https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1566920553339429/?pnref=story Again, Kumail covered a lot of topics in his address, and my personal favorite was cut out of this highlight. I don't have it word for word, but it went something like this, "so I encourage you to seek out people, thoughts, and opinions different from yours. Listen to it, absorb it, oppose it if you feel it's wrong, but let it affect you."
Great call Kumail! That's a Grinnell experience summed up in one line. Thanks for a great address to our graduating class of 2017, and to all of us Pioneers! #GCPride
