Nyle DiMarco has already built a career that feels almost impossible to summarize in one sentence. Model, actor, producer, director, activist, bestselling author, reality competition champion, and now commencement speaker at his alma mater, Gallaudet University.
But even with all of those accomplishments attached to his name, it was the 37-year-old’s deeply personal commencement speech at Gallaudet that recently left audiences emotional online.
The university awarded DiMarco an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in recognition of his advocacy and contributions to Deaf culture and accessibility in media. For many viewers, though, it was not the formal recognition that stood out most. It was the honesty of his speech.
Delivered entirely in ASL and later shared on Instagram, DiMarco’s address felt less like a celebrity appearance and more like a heartfelt conversation about belonging, identity, and finding spaces where Deaf people can fully thrive.
“Gallaudet Was a Utopia”
One of the most moving sections of DiMarco’s speech came as he reflected on his early years before college and how isolating mainstream education could feel as a Deaf child.
He recalled spending fifth grade alone in a public school environment where he constantly felt defined by his deafness.
“I couldn’t just be a kid,” DiMarco signed. “I was always branded as the Deaf kid.”
He explained that communication with hearing classmates often felt limited and exhausting, leaving him unable to fully participate in extracurricular activities or social life in the same way other students could.
Looking back, DiMarco said he realized he simply could not thrive in that environment.
That experience led him to apply to only one university after high school: Gallaudet.
“I gambled on one,” he said, explaining that he had dreamed of attending the university ever since childhood because of what it represented to Deaf students around the world. “Gallaudet was a utopia,” he signed.
For DiMarco, the school offered something he had rarely experienced elsewhere: effortless communication and community. Students arrived from different countries, cultures, and signing backgrounds, but still connected through shared lived experiences.
The Late Night Campus Memory That Stayed With Him
Another standout moment from the speech involved a memory from DiMarco’s first year at Gallaudet.
He recalled stumbling back across campus at 3 a.m. after a night out with friends in 2007 when he stopped in front of the statue of Laurent Clerc, one of the founders of Deaf education in America.
“I looked at him. He looked at me,” DiMarco signed. He then took off his favorite hat, placed it on the statue, and snapped a photo using what he jokingly described as a “crappy digital camera” from the pre-iPhone era.
At the time, he did not fully understand why the moment felt so important. But years later, he realized it represented gratitude for the generations of Deaf leaders who helped create spaces like Gallaudet in the first place.
“If not for this man,” DiMarco reflected, “there would likely be no Gallaudet. And I would not be standing here.”
Hollywood Was a Stark Contrast
While much of the speech celebrated Gallaudet, DiMarco also spoke candidly about the culture shock he experienced after graduating and entering Hollywood. He discussed landing his recurring role as Garrett Banducci on Switched at Birth and realizing how little Deaf representation existed behind the scenes on a show centered around Deaf characters and ASL. “The ASL masters were hearing, the writers were hearing,” he recalled.
At one point, DiMarco approached a director with questions about how his character should communicate in sign language on screen, only to be redirected to another hearing crew member. “That felt off to me,” he said.
For DiMarco, the experience highlighted how different Hollywood was from Gallaudet, where Deaf people regularly occupied positions of authority and leadership. “Here the professors, administrators, the decision-making leaders are all Deaf,” he explained while reflecting on his university years.
Still, DiMarco credited Switched at Birth for helping introduce ASL and Deaf stories to mainstream audiences in a way television rarely had before.
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Carrying Forward Deaf History
DiMarco’s return to Gallaudet carried even more significance because of his recent work co-directing Deaf President Now! alongside Davis Guggenheim.
The documentary revisits the historic 1988 protests at Gallaudet after the university selected a hearing president over qualified Deaf candidates. The demonstrations ultimately led to I. King Jordan becoming the school’s first Deaf president.
That history clearly shaped the tone of DiMarco’s speech, which repeatedly emphasized the importance of Deaf leadership, visibility, and community.
“What I owe Gallaudet is so much,” DiMarco said during the address.
Years after arriving on campus as a student searching for connection, he returned not only as a successful entertainer, but as part of the very legacy of Deaf excellence that once inspired him.