Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a surprise return to her alma mater on Monday, picking up an honorary degree from Yale University 36 years after earning her law degree from the Ivy¹ League school.

Graduates celebrating commencement at Yale erupted in cheers as Clinton was introduced. In keeping with Yale tradition, the names of honorary degree recipients² are a closely held secret, although word began trickling³ out Sunday of Clinton's participation⁴.

Clinton did speak for about five minutes during the Yale Law School's separate commencement event held in the early afternoon. There, the 60-year-old Clinton reminisced about her days at Yale, saying the law school was an "encampment for protests and frivolity⁵" when she arrived in the fall of 1969.

She met her future husband, Bill Clinton, at the school the following year, 22 years before he was elected the nation's 42nd president.

She expressed hope that every graduate would "use every creative gene⁶ you have" in order to work "on behalf of the public good."

Clinton drew laughs from the crowd when she jokingly apologized for taking Yale Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh "away from the law school and putting him to work in Washington." Koh was nominated by President Barack Obama to be legal adviser⁷ to the State Department, and remains⁸ a possible nominee⁹ to the US Supreme¹⁰ Court.

In a nod to the rough job market, Clinton also urged the new law school graduates to apply for work in the Obama administration, at the State Department and with the United States Agency for International Development.

Koh said after the law school ceremony he hoped his students learned from Clinton "what is possible to achieve in one lifetime."

"Everyone who got the honorary degrees were in these seats not that long ago," Koh said. "And you know, what they know is, they could be a mother, a lawyer and US senator, Secretary of State, presidential candidate. There's no limit. That's what they should think. There's no limit to what they can do."

Clinton spoke¹¹ to Yale graduates once before, in 1991 when she gave the traditional Class Day speech, which is the major address to graduating seniors held the day before commencement. This year's Class Day address was delivered Sunday by author Christopher Buckley, a 1975 Yale graduate.

Sculptor¹² Richard Serra, Nobel Prize-winning economist¹³ Thomas Schelling and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer John McPhee were among the others receiving honorary degrees from the university Monday.

美国国务卿希拉里•罗德姆•克林顿于本周一突然造访母校耶鲁大学，并被授予耶鲁大学荣誉学位。她于36年前毕业于这所“常青藤盟校”，并获法学学位。

当希拉里•克林顿出现在耶鲁大学毕业庆典上时，全场爆发出热情的欢呼。尽管上周日就有消息传出希拉里将出席毕业典礼，但按照耶鲁大学的传统，荣誉学位获得者名单是严格保密的。

在当天下午早些时候单独举行的耶鲁法学院毕业典礼上，希拉里•克林顿做了五分钟的演讲。现年60岁的希拉里•克林顿回忆了自己在耶鲁大学的时光，称她在1969年秋季入学时，法学院“是抗议和轻率举动的营地”。

在入学的第二年，希拉里结识了未来的老公比尔•克林顿。22年之后他被选举为美国第42任总统。

她表示，为了“代表公众利益”工作，希望每位毕业生都可以“充分调动自身创造性”。

当希拉里•克林顿打趣地为将耶鲁法学院院长哈罗德•H•柯“从法学院带到华盛顿工作”而道歉时，全场笑声一片。哈罗德•H•柯被美国总统奥巴马任命为国务院法律顾问，并有可能被提名为美国最高法院法官。

希拉里•克林顿承认就业市场不景气，但她敦促法学院的毕业生们申请进入政府、国务院以及美国国际开发署工作。

哈罗德•H•柯表示，他希望法学院毕业典礼后，学生们可以从希拉里•克林顿身上学到“人的一生可能有什么成就。”

他说：“荣誉学位的获得者们不久前也在这所学校读书，你知道，他们很清楚自己可以做一名母亲、律师、参议员、国务卿以及总统候选人。他们的人生永无止境，他们应该这样想，自己的能力永无止境。”

希拉里·克林顿曾于1991年对耶鲁大学毕业生发表过一次传统的毕业纪念日演讲。毕业纪念日演讲是毕业典礼前一天进行的一项重要演讲。今年的毕业日演讲是上周日由1975年毕业于耶鲁大学的作家克里斯多弗•巴克尔发表的。

本周一被授予耶鲁大学荣誉学位的人还包括雕塑家理查德•塞拉，诺贝尔经济学家托马斯•谢林，以及普利策奖得主约翰•麦克非。

Vocabulary:

alma mater：母校

trickle out: （消息、秘密等）泄露