Randy Pausch
Pausch delivered his "Last Lecture", titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", at CMU on September 18, 2007. He gave an abridged version of his speech on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in October 2007. The talk was modeled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical "final talk", with a topic such as "what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?" Before speaking, Pausch received a long standing ovation from a large crowd of over 400 colleagues and students. When he motioned them to sit down, saying, "Make me earn it", someone in the audience shouted back, "You did!"
Restoring Honor rally
The attendance at the rally was disputed: a scientific estimate placed the crowd size around 87,000, while media reports varied wildly from tens of thousands to 500,000. The event was held at the Lincoln Memorial, the same location, and the 47th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech, drawing criticism from African American leaders who believed the rally was clouding the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. Beck's Mormonism was a concern for some of his evangelical fans.