Word of the day: valedictory

The word of the day is valedictory:

3. an address or oration delivered at the commencement exercises of a college or school on behalf of the graduating class.
4. any farewell address or oration. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/valedictory)

"After five decades in politics, Feinstein, at eighty-one, is the oldest sitting member of the Senate, where a late term is often less a valedictory than a chance for activism: think of Edward Kennedy or Mitch McConnell."

 - Connie Bruck, "The Inside War: To expose torture, Dianne Feinstein fought the C.I.A.—and the White House", 22 June 2015 The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/22/the-inside-war)