Go forth

Dressing up time has started again at universities around the world, and old chums Mark Thompson and Lord Patten have been sharing their wisdom with US graduates at commencement ceremonies.

Mark, formerly DG of the BBC, and now CEO of the New York Times, took the shorter journey, 60 miles to Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut, where he took as his text the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall. I kid you not.

Lord Patten travelled from his jolly in Berkeley to Notre Dame, nestling in Indiana twixt Chicago and Detroit, and gave them a much more discursive, erudite and upbeat offering, ending with quasi-religious exhortations to "the incomparable, the unbeatable, the incredible, the exceptional, the inimitable, the unmatchable, the peerless class of 2015." He's more likely to pick up repeat bookings.