Kylie, the wife of Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce, addressed Cabrini’s class of 2024 as the school prepared to close its doors after 67 years in operation
Kylie Kelce returned to her alma mater as it sent off its very last graduating class.
The wife of Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce delivered the commencement address at Cabrini University in Radnor, Pa., on Sunday, May 19, as the school prepares to close after 67 years in operation.
According to local ABC affiliate WPVI, the college announced last June that it would be closing after the 2023-2024 school year. Cabrini will sell its property to nearby Villanova University.
Kylie — who graduated from Cabrini in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in communications — began her speech to the 3,200-strong class of 2024 with a quip about her increasingly famous family, earning laughs from the crowd after she said the university “couldn’t even get a top five Kelce” as their commencement speaker.
“My husband, Jason Kelce, is known for giving some pretty earth-shattering speeches,” she joked, referring to the athlete’s highly publicized speech from earlier this year in which he announced his retirement from professional football. “He did not help me in writing my words today, so you can go ahead and lower those expectations.”
Kylie, whose maiden name is McDevitt, played field hockey at Cabrini. She was named a member of the All-CSAC First Team and ECAC South All-Stars First Team during her senior year in 2016, and has previously served as field hockey head coach at her former high school.
She joked in her address that despite “the current state of the pop culture news cycle, I really prefer to fly under the radar.”
The Cabrini alum also took time to tackle one of the college graduate’s biggest questions: “What’s next?”
“‘I don’t know’ can be an honest and sufficient answer,” she told the audience. “The truth is that no one has their lives completely figured out. And if someone tells you otherwise, they are lying.”
Kylie also spoke about becoming a mother, and reflected on finding herself in the same shoes as her own parents. She and Jason share three young daughters: Wyatt Elizabeth, Elliotte Ray, and Bennett Llewellyn.
“This is part of the beauty of growing older and wiser. You are better equipped with knowledge to make more informed decisions,” Kylie continued. “Just look at me now. I’m 32, mom of three.”
“Where did the time go? I couldn’t tell you,” she said. “But what I can tell you is I have no idea what I’m doing. Every day, we are winging it. Just trying not to mess our kids up — come to find out that’s what our parents did, too.”
The former athlete also touched on the “beauty” in preserving each graduating student’s unique qualities and personality traits, and using those to stand out from the crowd in their post-college life.
“What a boring world it would be if you and your classmates sitting to either side of you thought exactly the same way, enjoyed exactly the same things and partook in exactly the same activities,” she noted.
“I am well aware that my current position in life is due to the wonderful people around me, but I’ll be damned if I don’t stay true to myself in everything I do and ensure that I am always authentically me,” Kylie added, seemingly referring to her husband and his family. “So find the things that speak to you. Your enthusiasm can be channeled to create change, and you are wonderful the way you are.”
In an emotional moment, Kylie said she was going to “try not to cry” as she addressed Cabrini’s imminent closure and sale to Villanova.
“This was home and this was where you found your extended family,” she said of the college. “In the next few months, as the sign at the front entrance no longer reads Cabrini, and a new school moves in, know that your home still exists.”
