BUZZ
Keynote speakers selected for Yale Class Day are nearly always liberal, as only “one of the 48 Class Day speakers since 1979 has been a Republican,” according to new research by the Buckley Institute.
Since 1979, 37 of 48 Yale Class Day speakers have been Democrats, about 77 percent, the institute reported Monday. In contrast, there’s been one Republican, and another 10 speakers were unaffiliated, unknown, or foreign, according to the research.
“As a registered Democrat, Min Jin Lee, the recently Class Day announced speaker for 2026, continued the decades-long trend of reinforcing the Yale ideological echo chamber at Class Day,” the group stated in a news release.
The annual Class Day event is held the day before the university’s commencement and celebrates the graduating class with student performances, awards and a keynote speech, the university’s website states.
“Of the 48 Class Day speakers, 13 were Democratic politicians (Hillary Clinton counted for each speech), four were members of Democratic administrations, and three were Democratic activists,” the institute’s research found.
Only one speaker was a Republican politician.
Another was a Republican administration member who served in the Reagan administration, but has since changed their political giving and support to the point that they’re best described as unaffiliated and was counted as such.
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