Stedman Graham was invited to the royal wedding that took place on Saturday, May 19, 2018. He was not snubbed as some people speculated. Oprah Winfrey's invitation included a plus one. Stedman had a very good reason for missing the wedding.

Instead of being at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, Graham was delivering a commencement address at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland thousands of miles away.

At the graduation

Graham spoke to a graduating class of 661 about living a fulfilled life.

He told the graduates that he was invited to the wedding with Oprah, but he would rather be with them. Then, he jokingly told them not to tell Oprah.

About the speech

Most commencement speeches are pep talks for the graduates. Stedman advised the students to focus on who they are. He challenged them to make the transition from being a follower to becoming a leader. The speaker encouraged Coppin's class of 2018 to make a plan to achieve their dream.

Graham told a personal story to let the graduates know that he was once in the same place as they are.

He confessed that he blamed his struggles on the opinions of others until he stopped listening to how the world defined him. He gave the example of how people refer to him as Oprah's man. He doesn't let that bother him because he knows who he is even though he has been in a relationship with Oprah for 32 years. He concluded that the only thing that matters is how he defines himself.

Sharing experiences

More than likely, Oprah shared highlights about the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and Stedman shared what happened at Coppin State University. He might have told Oprah about a mother and daughter who were in the graduating class.

The two Baltimore women both received a bachelor's degree in early childhood education and human development.

Myeshia T. Gayden and her mother Geraldine Hinton took most of their classes together, but no one suspected they were related mainly because their last names are different.

What is also interesting is that the 50-year-old mother and the 30-year-old daughter are full-time teachers at the same school for young children. It appears that they are already using Graham's advice to fulfill their dream. Because of the commencement speaker's convincing message, other graduates will probably take his advice and fulfill their dreams as well.

If Graham had not agreed to be the commencement speaker at Coppin, he would have been with Oprah at the wedding that people are still talking about.
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