May 18, 2015 10:56 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Ed Helms kicked off his speech at the University of Virginia's (UVA) Valedictory Exercises in a comedic and uplifting tone, urging those listening to him to "never let others define you."

He talked about picking colleges in 1991, how his father would have liked to see him attend Vanderbilt University and become a lawyer in their hometown, Atlanta. Helms went a different way and became the actor we know today, the one that portrayed Andy Bernard in "The Office" and who was a satirical news correspondent for Jon Stewart.

"It has been said that a rolling stone gathers no moss," Helms said. "I would add that sometimes a rolling stone also gathers no verifiable facts or even the tiniest morsels of journalistic integrity."

"Rolling Stone tried to define you this year. As a result, not only was this community thrown deep into turmoil, but the incredibly important struggle to address sexual violence on campuses nationwide was suddenly more confusing than ever and needlessly set back."

The comedian then jumped to the Baltimore riots, speaking on how certain media members tried to define rioters as "thugs."

"How many times do we label people with our first impressions only to be proven wrong?" Helms said. "We try to define others with simple labels because it makes the world easier to understand."

The now-retracted "A Rape on Campus" article detailed a gang rape at a UVA fraternity house and an alleged cover-up on the school's part. When the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism finished their review, deeming it a "journalistic failure," the fraternity implicated and a UVA dean villainized in the article filed lawsuits against the magazine.

"This community didn't fall for the fallacy that just because Rolling Stone was wrong everything here must be perfectly peachy," Helms said. "You all had the courage to understand you can be outraged at Rolling Stone and still ask yourselves hard questions: When sexual violence does occur in our community, do we have the best possible protocols and resources available to our students? And UVA is charging forward to answer those questions and you should be proud of that."

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