Music icon Bob Mould to deliver keynote address for 2025 Commencement

Macalester College is pleased to announce that Robert A. (Bob) Mould, the trailblazing guitarist, singer, songwriter and activist, will be the keynote speaker for the 2025 Commencement ceremony. Mould will also receive an honorary degree. 

“Bob Mould is a rock and punk music legend who not only paved the way for other bands and sounds, but also used his esteemed platform to fiercely advocate for a more just society,” said President Suzanne M. Rivera. “We look forward to welcoming him back to campus as an honorary degree recipient and our 2025 Commencement speaker.” 

Mould formed the punk rock band Hüsker Dü with Grant Hart and Greg Norton during his first year at Macalester in 1978. With the band’s rapid success, he left the college during his final year to go on tour and never graduated. At the time, he was in the process of writing an honors thesis on punk rock as a subculture under the guidance of sociology professor Michal McCall. Mould has spoken often about his time at Macalester, and how, as an “underprivileged” scholarship student from upstate New York, being immersed in a diverse student body with diverse ideas changed his life. 

Hüsker Dü went on to receive immense critical acclaim and helped cement the Twin Cities’ reputation as an epicenter of alternative music in the 1980s. Their 1984 album “Zen Arcade” is on Rolling Stone’s list of Greatest Punk Albums of all time. One of the first American punk rock bands to sign with a major record label, Mould and his bandmates released albums on Warner Brothers in 1986 and 1987, paving the way for the alternative rock movement of the 1990s. Many of that era’s bands credit Hüsker Dü as an important if not essential influence, including Nirvana, Green Day, Foo Fighters, and the Pixies. 

Not shy to speak his mind, Mould has also been an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and other social justice issues in both his music and press interviews.  

The Commencement ceremony honoring the Class of 2025 will be held Saturday, May 17, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. in the Leonard Center Fieldhouse. For more information, visit macalester.edu/commencement.