"Never let others define you, define yourselves."
Ed Helms addressed University of Virginia's graduating class on Friday and delivered a funny yet biting speech, commenting on the state of modern media in light of the recent Rolling Stone rape allegations scandal.
"It has been said that a rolling stone gathers no moss," Helms said. "I would add that sometimes a rolling stone also gathers no verifiable facts or even the tiniest morsels of journalistic integrity."
“Rolling Stone tried to define you this year,” he continued. “As a result, not only was this community thrown deep into turmoil, but the incredibly important struggle to address sexual violence on campuses nationwide was suddenly more confusing than ever and needlessly set back.”
Of course, as any 2015 commencement address, Helms threw in a couple jabs about millennials, student loans and the work force, but his comments on the consequences of labels resonated the most powerfully.
“How many times do we label people with our first impressions only to be proven wrong?” he asked. “The tattooed motorcycle guy who turns out to be a teddy bear, the buttoned-up co-worker who actually knows how to party, or the mousy librarian who takes off her glasses to reveal that she’s a bloodthirsty alien from a distant galaxy.”
“We try to define others with simple labels because it makes the world easier to understand.”
Regardless of Rolling Stone's missteps -- or Helms' truisms about snap judgments -- rape remains an insidious problem on college campuses. A 2009 study of 5,442 college women found that 1 in 5 was sexually assaulted during her time on campus; 82% of those who experienced assault were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.