Overview
- Dratch, a 1988 Dartmouth alumna, delivered the college’s Class of 2026 commencement address on Sunday and received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the school.
- She told graduates that rejection should not define them, saying the word "no" can sting but that sometimes a "no" is just a "not yet."
- Dratch traced her own early setbacks — graduate school denials, an initial refusal from Chicago’s Second City classes, and a first failed SNL audition — as examples of long-term progress.
- She mixed advice with comedy by briefly reviving her "Debbie Downer" character to riff on AI’s economic and ecological effects while a student punctuated the jokes with a sad-trombone gag.
- Dartmouth said about 10,000 people attended the ceremony, which included roughly 2,200 graduates from 49 states and 58 countries, and Dratch’s speech highlighted both campus milestones and the value of humility in public life.