"We need to lift up women."
Pharrell Williams has always been an advocate for women’s rights and his commencement speech to the NYU class of 2017 was no different, as he shared elements equality at their graduation ceremony.
The Grammy-winning creative received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree and spoke to the Tisch School of the Arts graduates on Wednesday (May 18). The “Happy” artist made a splash at the institution when he was an Artist in Residence at Tisch last year. Speaking to the group at Yankee Stadium, Williams praised Generation Z for turning the world on its head when it comes to social justice and pushing the limits of innovation in both the creative and technical channels. He also called for equality of women.
“Your generation is unraveling deeply entrenched laws, principals, and misguided values that have held women back for far too long and, therefore, have held us all back.” he said. “Imagine the possibilities when women are not held back. The world that you will live in that will be a lot better. This is the first generation that navigates with the security and confidence to treat women as equals.”