耶鲁大学校长2010年毕业致辞.docVIP

Speeches Statements Freshman Address: Opportunity and Responsibility President Richard C. LevinAugust 28, 2010Yale I am delighted to join Dean Miller in welcoming you, the Class of 2014, to Yale Let me try to reassure you. Your children are going to love it here!? And you are going to enjoy your association with Yale, too, whether you are a returning graduate or one of the vast majority of parents who never set foot in New Haven until your children started to think about where to go to college.? You may take comfort in learning that surveys have shown that Yale parents are the most satisfied in the Ivy League.? So, welcome to the Yale family!? We are so pleased to have your children with us, and we will do our best to provide them with abundant opportunities to learn and thrive in the four years ahead. And to you, the Class of 2014, I make the same pledge.? For you, these next four years will be a time of opportunity unlike any other. ?Here you are surrounded by astonishing resources: fascinating fellow students from all over the world, a learned and caring faculty, intimate residential college communities, a magnificent library, two extraordinary art museums, an outstanding museum of natural history, superb athletic facilities, and student organizations covering every conceivable interest — the performing arts, politics, and community service among them.? You will have complete freedom to explore, learn about new subjects, meet new people, and pursue new passions.? I want to encourage you, in every way that I can, to make the most of this rare and unique opportunity. Let’s start with your academic program.? Most likely, you will be overwhelmed by the more than 2000 courses available to you.? You will inevitably miss out on 98% of them.? But let me urge you nonetheless to sample widely.? Each of the scholarly disciplines provides a different perspective on human experience; each allows you a different window on our accumulated knowledge of nature and culture, an