COLUMBUS, Ohio — Less than two weeks after his much-talked-about, unconventional commencement address at The Ohio State University, speaker Chris Pan returned to Columbus to address the criticism.
Instead of ducking in a corner, he said he's leaning into the harsh criticism because it has given him an opportunity to practice skills, such as resilience.
The Ohio State alum, former Facebook employee, social media entrepreneur and founder of MyIntent says he wants to clear up some of the misinformation, set the record straight and bring some harmony between himself and the Ohio State community.
"I'm absolutely a proud Buckeye," Pan said. "That's why I'm here. It takes guts to come here. People told me not to come this weekend. Literally, people are like 'no, you're not wanted here,' but I'm like 'no, I have to come.'"
Chris Pan talked to 10TV for nearly a half-hour Friday about his May 5 commencement address that has been much commented on online.
"My message was around financial, emotional and spiritual freedom," Pan said.
Pan drew boos from the crowd when he said the cryptocurrency Bitcoin was worth looking into.
"It was rough. I wasn't expecting it," Pan said. "I thought the younger generation would love it. So, it completely caught me off guard."
Pan also led the crowd in a sing-along and had The Ohio State University President Ted Carter help him with a magic trick.
Pan said he received the official invitation to be the speaker on March 8 and submitted his speech to the university the Monday before the Sunday commencement.
"So, the feedback I got mostly was around my comments on conflict resolution, and I took a lot of that to heart, and I actually changed it, but there was not much mention of Bitcoin."
Pan also raised eyebrows for posting on his social media that he used psychedelic drugs to help him write the commencement speech.
"It's part of my spiritual journey," Pan explained. "It's part of my spiritual practice."
He also explained why he posted that information for all to see.
"I'm a very open person, and I'm someone who just likes to share what works for me," Pan said.
Pan said he's well aware of the harsh criticism, but has also received positive feedback.
"I've heard that I was an embarrassment to the university. I heard that I was a clown, that I made a fool out of everybody, that I focused too much on myself, it was self-promotional. I heard a lot of that," Pan said. "On the other hand, people said it was the most brilliant speech, the most actionable speech."
With hindsight, he said the speech could have been better and he could have done it differently.
"My speech was not meant to be divisive. It was not meant to be polarizing. I'm sorry that it turned out to be, but that's not the intention. So, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to bring the harmony back in," Pan said.