Did Bob Hope ever deliver a commencement address at Georgetown?

Bob Hope was awarded an honorary degree by Georgetown in 1962, the same year that his son, Anthony, graduated from the College. Gustave Weigel, S.J., professor of Theology at Woodstock College, was the designated commencement speaker that year. However, University President Edward B. Bunn, S.J., invited Bob Hope to speak as well, saying that the audience would not forgive him if he did not. Hope quipped in response, “I wouldn’t forgive you either.” He went on to say that he had not been so thrilled “since the government let me declare Bing as a dependent” and that he was very proud of his son who had learned “to write home for money in five different languages.” On a more serious note, he told graduates and faculty that he did not want to make light of his degree: “I am thrilled,” he said, adding, “I have discovered that the most gratifying kind of education is that which makes a man happy in the knowledge that he’s a little bit useful to others . . . I’ve learned that if you give a little of yourself to others, it will come back in carloads. Today is one of those come-back days.” [img_assist|nid=388|title=|desc=|link=none|align=middle|width=500|height=380]