Obama tells grads rights issues 'solvable'

President Barack Obama used a commencement speech Monday to say he believed the nation's remaining civil rights challenges were "eminently solvable" -- but only if "we can muster the will."

Addressing about 600 graduates of Barnard College, an all-women's school on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Obama only alluded to his recent watershed support of same-sex marriage as he stressed that he will continue to push for the advancement of women and minorities in the workplace.

"If you're willing to reach up and close that gap between what America is and what America should be, I want you to know that I will be right there with you," Obama said to cheers.

"If you're ready to fight for that brilliant, radically simple idea of America -- that no matter who you are and what you look like, no matter who you love and what God you worship, you can still pursue your own happiness," he said. "I will join you every step of the way."

Obama received Barnard's Medal of Distinction, alongside three others including Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson. Referring to Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage last week, Wolfson, an attorney, said he planned to "thank the president for doing what we elect presidents to do: showing moral leadership in standing up for freedom, fairness and families."

They briefly shook hands as Obama prepared to follow Wolfson to the podium.

The commencement ceremony was held under gray skies on Columbia University's South Lawn, in the shadow of the historic neoclassical Low Library, where police officers were perched on the roof.

It began a day of fundraisers and public appearances in Manhattan for the president. He taped an interview on ABC's "The View" Monday afternoon before joining an event hosted by notable gay, lesbian and Latino advocates, including singer Ricky Martin. The New York visit came a week after Obama made presidential history by declaring that he supports same-sex marriage.

At the fundraiser, Obama told supporters that he still hopes to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that bars federal recognition of any marriage not between a man and a woman, as the president rattled off the values he said separate him from his presumptive Republican opponent, Mitt Romney.

"This choice is going to be, in some ways, more important than 2008," Obama told the crowd at a fundraiser at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, for which tickets started at $5,000. "We've got a very clear contrast this time. John McCain believed in climate change, believed in immigration reform."

Martin introduced the president. Speaking of Obama's support of gay marriage, Martin said: "That is the kind of courage we expect from our president and that's why we support him."

In his Barnard speech, Obama told graduates to not be discouraged by the "cynicism and complacency" he said opponents of change have always banked on from the public.

"The trajectory of this country should give you hope. Previous generations should give you hope. What young generations have done before should give you hope," Obama said.

Obama made no reference to his re-election campaign during the Barnard speech, but it was a source of humor for other speakers. Barnard senior class president Jaclyn D'Aversa noted the strength and talents of her female classmates, saying, "With all due respect, Mr. President, it's a good thing none of the women of 2012 are running for president this year."