Scotty McCreery
Talk about a double whammy: The American Idol champ graduated from Garner High School in North Carolina with distinguished honors…less than 24 hours after winning a coveted CMT Music Award!
Aretha Franklin
The soul icon received an honorary doctorate from Princeton University, her second such honorary degree. Her first came back in 2010, courtesy of fellow Ivy League institution Yale.
Kylie Minogue
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage...Dr. Minogue?! Yep. The Australian pop phenom accepted an honorary doctorate—specifically, a Doctor of Health Science degree—from England's Anglia Ruskin University.
Princess Beatrice
The young royal donned a mortar board and gown to accept a degree in history and history of ideas from the University of London's Goldsmiths College.
Alexander Skarsgard
The hot TV vampire accepted an honorary doctorate degree in the arts from the U.K.'s Leeds Metropolitan University, where he studied for six months before dropping out.
Amy Poehler
The funnylady was just that as she peppered her speech to Harvard University's class of 2011 with several humorous quips.
Tom Hanks
The beloved actor showed his support for Yale by not only addressing the students in attendance, but by donning a school baseball cap as well.
Bill Clinton
The former U.S. president offered up words of wisdom at the 2011 New York University commencement at Yankee Stadium.
James Franco
The Oscar host lined up with his graduate school classmates for matriculation from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. The actor received an MFA in filmmaking.
Denzel Washington
No stranger to giving speeches (he does have two Oscars after all), the actor spoke to students at the University of Pennsylvania.
President Barack Obama
The leader of the free world addressed the leaders of tomorrow during the 2011 graduation ceremony at Miami Dade College. He also received an honorary degree.
John Legend
Thanks to the Grammy winner, Kean University in New Jersey got inspiring words and music during its commencement ceremony.
Michelle Obama
The first lady's appearance in front of graduates at the University of Northern Iowa also marked her first visit back to the state since the 2008 presidential election.
Kim Cattrall
The Sex and the City star returned to her hometown to pick up an honorary fellowship from Liverpool's John Moores University in recognition of her contribution to the arts.
Orlando Bloom
The Canterbury native returned to his hometown to pick up an honorary degree at the University of Kent.
Lisa Kudrow
The erstwhile Friend and alumna delivered the commencement address at the 146th deliverance of degrees at Vassar College.
Meryl Streep
The consummate Oscar winner delivered the keynote speech at Barnard College and was presented with the all-girl school's Medal of Distinction for her public speaking troubles.
Anderson Cooper
CNN's silver fox returned to the site of many impassioned reports, the Gulf Coast, to address the Tulane University class of 2010.
Rachel Maddow
The all-around smarty-pants (Stanford grad, Rhodes Scholar, MSNBC news anchor...do we need to go on?) accepted an honorary degree while delivering the commencement address for Smith College.
Alec Baldwin
The 30 Rock star received an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from his alma mater, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, during their 2010 commencement ceremony at Yankee Stadium. "I am very, very happy and very, very touched to be able to share this experience with all of you here today," he says.
Antonio Banderas
Shrek Ever After's Puss in Boots received an honorary doctorate from the University of Malaga, his Spanish hometown.
Steven Spielberg
The director accepted an honorary degree from Boston University, which we can only imagine was secretly hoping he might bring along a few CG dinosaurs or the odd alien to help entertain the crowd.
Ellen Degeneres & Harry Connick Jr.
The talk-show host and the singing dreamboat, both New Orleans natives, addressed hometown university Tulane's graduating class, which had been affected by Hurricane Katrina. DeGeneres praised the grads with a quip: "Usually when you're wearing a robe at 10 in the morning, it means you've given up."
Jimmy Fallon
The late-night chat host received an honorary Ph.D. from College of St. Rose, which he hadn't quite graduated from the first time around. But that was the past, and that means that now you can call him Dr. Jimmy Fallon.