6-Time NBA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar To Speak at Harvard’s 2025 Class Day

Six-time NBA champion and activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will address graduating seniors as this year’s Class Day speaker on May 28, the Alumni Affairs and Development office announced on Tuesday.

“We are so excited to welcome Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the featured Class Day speaker,” said Uzma Issa ’25, first marshal of the 2025 Senior Class Committee, in a press release. “He’s a champion in every sense of the word — celebrated both for his extraordinary achievements on the court and his lasting efforts to build a more just and compassionate world.”

Abdul-Jabbar, a basketball Hall of Famer, is a 19-time NBA all star and remains the only player in NBA history to have won six Most Valuable Player awards. Since his retirement in 1989, he has spoken about racism and inequality in the U.S and is a New York Times bestselling author of 20 books.

“It’s a privilege to share this moment with the Class of 2025 and to celebrate all that lies ahead,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a press release. “The world needs their ideas, their energy, and their heart.”

Abdul-Jabbar’s agreement to serve as Class Day speaker marks a return to the tradition of bringing in a high-profile person for the event.

Last year, Harvard Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 and Securitas employee Bill Oliverio served as the keynote speakers after more than 10 people — including Harvard dropout Matt Damon and 15-time NBA All-Star Shaquille O’Neal — declined to speak.

The selection of Abdul-Jabbar comes as students, faculty, and alumni have displayed an outpouring of support for Harvard after University President Alan M. Garber ’76 announced Harvard would resist demands from the Trump administration. Harvard sued the Trump administration on Monday.

Next month, Abdul-Jabbar will release a book on protest movements that have shaped the U.S titled “We All Want to Change the World: My Journey Through Social Justice Movements From the 1960s to Today.”

Abdul-Jabbar was appointed as U.S. Cultural Ambassador by the State Department in 2012 and promoted education and racial tolerance among young people. In 2016, former U.S. President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian hon0r — for his courage on and off the court.

Abdul-Jabbar will speak at Harvard one day before Stanford University biology professor Abraham Verghese addresses affiliates at the University’s 374th Commencement. The announcement of Verghese was met with lukewarm reactions from many seniors who were hoping for a more high-profile selection.

Srija Vem ’25, second marshal of the 2025 Class Committee, said in the press release that Abdul-Jabbar will provide an important perspective to this year’s graduating class.

“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has spent a lifetime speaking out against injustice and using his platform to educate and inspire,” Vem said in the release.

“As we prepare to take our next steps in life, his legacy reminds us that we all have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to use our voices, our intellect, and our talents in service of something greater,” she added.

—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.