Ellen DeGeneres Mixes Humor, Emotion During Tulane Commencement Speech

Ellen DeGeneres returned to her hometown of New Orleans over the weekend to deliver a moving commencement speech to the 2009 graduates at Tulane University, aka the Katrina class.

The funny lady, dressed in a green gown, cracked up the audience dissecting commencement into “common” and “cement,” before sharing her own story of tragedy before triumph.

Ellen explained how the death of her girlfriend when she was just 19 led to her show business career, after she wrote a letter to God following the incident, something she set a goal for herself to read on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

And while success came eventually for Ellen — in the form of her own sitcom — after revealing she was gay on the show, Ellen recounted how she lost everything and how it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

“I had no offers, nobody wanted to touch me at all, yet I was getting letters from kids that almost committed suicide, but didn’t because of what I did, and I realized that I had a purpose, and it wasn’t just about me and it wasn’t about celebrity,” Ellen told the graduates. “But I felt like I was being punished. It was a bad time, I was angry and I was sad and then I was offered a talk show and the people that offered me the talk show tried to sell it and most stations didn’t want to pick it up… because they thought nobody would watch me. And really, when I look back on it, I wouldn’t change a thing. It was so important for me to lose everything, because I found what the most important thing is — to be true to yourself, and ultimately that’s what’s got me to this place… No matter what, I know what I am.”

Ellen peppered her speech with jokes and quotes, including ones from The Pussycat Dolls’ tune “When I Grow Up,” and Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance.” And she also suggested to the class, that their lives would change.

“By the time I was your age, I really thought I knew who I was, but I had no idea,” Ellen said. “Like for example, when I was your age, I was dating men. So what I’m saying is when you’re older, most of you will be gay.”

The funnylady concluded her remarks reminding the graduates that they have the skills to tackle life.

“Be true to yourself and everything will be fine…You’ve already survived a hurricane, what more can happen to you. And as I said before, some of the most devastating things that happen to you will teach you the most,” she said.