Mindy Kaling Tells Harvard Law Grads They Might Be Evil

Mindy Kaling and Harvard Law might be a bit of an odd pair, but they are also kind of a match made in heaven. The actress, who admits to being obsessed with true crime, was asked to speak at the school's Class Day ceremony for soon-to-be-graduates. Since the event isn't as formal as graduation, Kaling was free to be herself and the jokes were free-flowing. Unsurprisingly, her speech was hilarious, sarcastic, and whip smart.

Kaling made light of the fact that she's a slightly unconventional choice for a Harvard Law speaker, taking digs at her alma mater Dartmouth among other things. "Dartmouth is an academic institution located in rural lawless New Hampshire," she told the crowd. "Where, when you arrive, you are given a flask of moonshine and a box of fireworks and you are told simply to quote, 'Go to town.' Except there is no town, there is only a forest and a row of fraternity houses that smells like urine."

Kaling also poked fun at the plight of many law school graduates today, who go into corporate law instead of the more altruistic work they may aspire to do. "Most of you will go on to the noblest pursuits, like helping a cable company acquire a telecom company," she joked. "You will defend BP from birds. You will spend hours arguing that the well water was contaminated well before the fracking occurred. One of you will sort out the details of my pre-nup. A dozen of you will help me with my acrimonious divorce."

Of course, the speech wasn't all a joke. Mindy spoke about how her parents moved to America because of the promise of fairness, and she argued that it was up to the graduates to defend that fairness. She reminded them of their great responsibility as lawyers and warned of the temptation to use their power for evil. "You're going to go out into the world, and people are going to listen to what you say whether you're good or evil," she said. "And, that probably scares you, because some of you look really young. And, I'm afraid a couple of you are probably evil — that's just the odds." This is Mindy Kaling, after all — she can't keep it all serious. (Vulture)