President Obama delivered the commencement address Tuesday at New York’s all-female Barnard College. Obama urged women graduates to look to the history of social struggle in the United States for inspiration in the fight to ensure gender equality and reproductive justice.

President Obama: “The trajectory of this country should give you hope. Young folks who marched and mobilized and stood up and sat in, from Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall, didn’t just do it for themselves, they did it for other people. That’s how we achieved women’s rights. That’s how we achieved voting rights. That’s how we achieved workers’ rights. That’s how we achieved gay rights. That’s how we’ve made this union more perfect.”