毕业主题系列演讲 哈佛校长2016年毕业典礼演讲

2016 Commencement Speech

Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust

Tercentenary Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

May 26, 2016

Greetings, alumni, graduates, families, and friends. It is such a pleasure to see you all here and offer congratulations on this day of celebration. I am in the unenviable role of warm-up act for one of the greatest storytellers of our - or any other - time. Nevertheless, my assignment is to offer a few reflections on this magnificent institution at this moment in its history. And what a moment it is!

From comments of astonished pundits1 on television, in print, and online, to conversations with bewildered friends and colleagues, the question seems unavoidable and mesmerizing2: What is going on? What is happening to the world? The tumultuous state of American politics, spotlighted3 in

this contentious4 presidential contest; the political challenges around the globe from Brazil to Brexit; the Middle East in flames; a refugee crisis in Europe; terrorists exploiting new media to perform chilling acts of brutality6 and murder; climate-related famine in Africa and fires in Canada. It is as if we are being visited by the horsemen of the apocalypse with war, famine, natural disaster and, yes, even pestilence7 - as Zika spreads, aided by

political controversy8 and paralysis9.

As extraordinary as these times may seem to us, Harvard reminds us we have been here before. It is in some ways reassuring10 at this 365th Commencement to recall all that Harvard has endured over centuries. A number of these festival rites11 took place under clouds of war; others in times of financial crisis and despair; still others in face of epidemics12 -

from smallpox13 in the 17th century to the devastating14 flu of 1918 to the

H1N1 virus just a few years ago. Harvard has not just survived these challenges, but has helped to confront them. We sing in our alma mater about "Calm rising through change and through storm." What does that mean for today's crises? Where do universities fit in this threatening mix? What can we do? What should we do? What must we do?

We are gathered today in Tercentenary Theatre, with Widener Library and Memorial Church standing15 before and behind us, enduring symbols of Harvard's larger identity and purposes, testaments16 to what universities do

and believe at a time when we have never needed them more. And much is at stake, for us and for the world.

We look at Widener Library and see a great edifice17, a backdrop of giant columns where photos are taken and 27 steps are worn down ever so slightly by the feet of a century of students and scholars. We also see a repository of learning, with 57 miles of shelving at the heart of a library system of some 17 million books, a monument to reason and knowledge, to the collection

and preservation18 of the widest possible range of beliefs, and experiences, and facts that fuel free inquiry19 and our constantly evolving understanding. A vehicle for Veritas - for exploring the path to truth wherever it may lead. A tribute to the belief that knowledge matters, that facts matter - in the present moment, as a basis for the informed decisions of individuals, societies, and nations; and for the future, as the basis for new insight. As James Madison wrote in 1822, "a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives." Or as early 20th-century civil rights activist20 Nannie Helen Burroughs put it, "education is democracy's life insurance."

Evidence, reason, facts, logic21, an understanding of history and of science. The ability to know, as former dean Jeremy Knowles used to put it, "when someone is talking rot." These are the bedrock of education, and of an informed citizenry with the capacity to lead, to explore, to invent. Yet this commitment to reason and truth - to their pursuit and preeminence22 - seems increasingly a minority viewpoint. In a recent column, George Will deplored23 the nation's evident abandonment of what he called "the reality principle - the need to assess and adapt to facts." Universities are defined by this principle. We produce a ready stream of evidence and insights, many with potential to create a better world.

So what are our obligations when we see our fundamental purpose under siege, our reason for being discounted and undermined? First, we must maintain an unwavering dedication24 to rigorous assessment25 and debate within our own walls. We must be unassailable in our insistence26 that ideas most fully27 thrive and grow when they are open to challenge. Truth cannot simply be claimed; it must be established - even when that process is uncomfortable. Universities do not just store facts; they teach us how to evaluate, test, challenge, and refine them. Only if we ourselves model a commitment to fact over what Stephen Colbert so memorably28 labeled as