Tufts、哈佛、宾州、Wofford、Yale、北大、清华、复旦、交大校长2009年毕业典礼致辞

今天的财经网上看到一篇2009年哈佛大学Drew Faust校长2009年毕业典礼的中文版，很有意思。搜索了一下今天美国几所高校校长的毕业演讲，贴出来分享一下。

本来想写点自己的感受的，算了，怎么写都没有原文好，自己看吧

不能免俗的附上清、北、复、交四位校长今年的演讲。

Baccalaureate Address to the Class of 2009

Lawrence S. Bacow
Tufts University
May 16, 2009

Faculty, guests, parents and family members, but most of all, to the Class of 2009, welcome.

"In the blink of an eye." Four years passed, in the blink of an eye. So many of you are sitting here wondering, "Where has the time gone?" It seems like yesterday that your families were driving you to campus, moving all of your stuff into your dorms as you greeted your new roommates and hall mates for the first time. After the Matriculation ceremony, tearful and emotional goodbyes followed as you began this extraordinary journey we call college.

Well, here we are four years later, and while the time may have passed in the blink of an eye, history repeats itself. Once again, your families are here to support you, but this time moving your stuff out, not moving it in. Those strangers whom you greeted as your roommates and hall mates have now morphed into your lifelong friends. And the tears that will be shed in the next few days will not be your parents' as they say goodbye, but yours as you bid farewell to your classmates and this campus that you have called home for the past four years.

No doubt you leave here with many good memories of friendships made, intellectual pathways explored, roads traveled far and wide, goals achieved, passions discovered, and maturity found. At times like this I like to recall the story told by Mark Twain of the college graduate on his commencement day. "What did you learn during your four years away at school," the graduate was asked. "Not much," he replied, "but my parents seem to have learned a lot while I was gone."

One of the many joys of my job is that I have the privilege of watching you grow during your four years on this Hill. Adele and I have truly enjoyed the time that we have shared with you. Like you, we also have our special memories of these past four years. They include:

• Making our operatic debut last year with the Tufts Opera Ensemble in Dido and Aeneas;
  
  
• Serving hot chocolate to many of you sledding down our lawn this past winter;
  
  
• Enjoying an evening of great food and even better conversation with the ladies of 21 Teele Street;
  
  
• Training with the marathon team and greeting each member as they crossed the finish line in Boston;
  
  
• Watching the Women's Field Hockey Team's epic battle with Bowdoin in the finals of the NCAA tournament while I was lying sick in bed with thanks to JumboCast;
  
  
• Observing Adele give cooking lessons to the members of the Tufts Jewish Women's Collaborative at Gifford House, and then getting to eat the fruits of their labors;
  
  
• Joining you in welcoming Tony Blair, Madeline Albright, Queen Noor, Tom Brokaw, Chris Matthews, Michael Pollan and other extraordinary visitors to campus;
  
  
• Sharing the historic presidential election night with all of you at the Campus Center, and then witnessing the spontaneous patriotic demonstration that occurred right outside our home;
  
  
• A new highlight, from this very Baccalaureate ceremony -- hearing Anjali Nirmalan's extraordinary Wendell Phillips speech;
  
  
• Senior dinners, the Red Sox World Series victory, a visit to the Tufts-in-Madrid Program, Julia Torgovitskaya's Senior Recital -- I could go on.

The past four years have been special for all of us, but today is really not about reflecting on the past. It is about looking to the future.

Many of you have expressed extreme anxiety about what awaits you as you venture into the "real world." A good part of this anxiety is common to every graduating class. College is a bubble. All you have to do to find friends is to stick your head outside your door. Something interesting is always going on somewhere on campus. You have had an easy answer to the question, "What are you doing these days?" Your response, "I am a Tufts student." All of this changes after tomorrow, especially for those of you who are not continuing on straight to graduate school.

For those of you who are seeking a job, the real world can seem terrifying, especially right now. Jobs are scarce in this economy. You are going to have to be aggressive in finding work, and may even have to settle for something that you may think is beneath you just to pay the rent. Believe me: I understand this phenomenon on a deeply personal level. My first job following graduation from MIT involved helping to paint an old warehouse. At various times in my life I have also worked as a dishwasher, busboy, and my favorite, sales associate at a Baskin-Robbins ice cream store.

I hope that those of you who have to hustle to find a job will recognize that there is dignity in honest work. My late mother used to say that at some point in our lives, each of us should have to work in a job that requires us to do physical labor and to serve the public. Once you have done so, you will come to appreciate all those who have served you in the past and you will see those who serve you in the future in a new light . We owe each of these people our abiding respect and our gratitude.

In some ways, you are lucky to be encountering economic turbulence at the start of your careers. Far better to live through these times and learn from them now than to have your first experience with adversity come when you already have families, mortgages, and greater responsibilities and obligations.

In preparing these remarks, I wondered what advice I might give you as you are to embark upon life post-Tufts. Academics are fond of recycling material, and as I thought more about it, I realized that the advice I give to members of our marathon team the night before the big race might actually be helpful to you as well. So here goes.

First, be careful not to go out too fast. The first five miles of the Boston marathon course are all downhill. At the start of the race, your adrenaline is pumping and everyone wants to take off and run as fast as they can. But if you go out too fast, you will pay for it later on. Most of life is not a sprint, but a marathon. We all know people who were popular and accomplished in high school, but who fell flat in college. Similarly, there are those who excelled in college, but in fact had difficulty making it in the real world. People who go out too fast in life are often cursed with having a brilliant past. It's far more important for you to have a bright future. Focus on your long-term goals and you will do well in life.

Second, pain is not linear. The ache you feel in your hip at mile five is not necessarily going to be twice as bad at mile 10, or three times as bad at mile 15. In life, it is inevitable that you will experience aches and pains and setbacks throughout your career. Some of these setbacks will be personal; some may be professional. Your ultimate success and happiness is far more likely to be determined by how you deal with the challenges that you will confront in life than by how you handle the opportunities that will inevitably come your way. Some of the most successful people in history are those who failed early. Abraham Lincoln was a one-term Congressman who failed in his bid for the Senate. Albert Einstein had to take a job in the Swiss patent office because he could not land an academic job. The current CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Tufts graduate Jamie Dimon, actually lost his job at Citigroup when he was in his early forties. Life will throw you curve balls. Better learn how to hit them early in your career.

Third, running a marathon is far more a mental act than it is a physical exercise. You need to be mentally tough to train properly, mentally disciplined to not go out too fast, and mentally focused to make it through the pain that comes at the end of the race. Similarly, in life your success professionally and personally will be determined by your ability to make the most of the gifts that you have been given, to remain focused and disciplined in all that you do. For most of you, success to this point has come relatively easily. But if you hope to achieve true greatness, you will need to learn to push yourself harder than you thought possible. Talk to people who have achieved great success whether it is in science or engineering, the arts, the public arena, or in business and most will tell you that if they knew how hard it was going to be at the start, they never would have tried. Grit and determination will take you much farther in this world than talent alone.

Fourth, to run the marathon successfully you need to properly hydrate and be conscious of your nutritional intake throughout the race. If you don't, you are likely to crash or hit the wall at mile 21. Similarly, in life it is important to constantly nourish both the mind and the soul. This is not the end of your education, but the commencement of the rest of it. Read voraciously, learn from all those around you, and take time from your daily routine to address your spiritual and emotional needs. For if you don't, you are also likely to hit the wall. And I can tell you from having seen many people do it in both the marathon and in life, it is not pretty.

Winston Churchill once said, "We earn a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." There is much truth in this saying. Be rich in the things that matter – the love and respect of your family, your colleagues and your friends. Try to leave the world a better place than you found it, and never forget that there are no prizes awarded to the richest person in the cemetery. All the money in the world is worth little if you have no one to love and no one who loves you.

Your most important asset throughout your life will not be your Tufts education, but rather, your good name. Never do anything to tarnish it. You will be confronted many times throughout life by temptation. If I would offer you any advice it is to always do the right thing. Figuring out the right thing to do is usually not that difficult. Doing it, however, is often excruciatingly hard. If you want others to treat you honestly, be honest with them. If you want others to respect you, you must show them respect. Always try to model the behavior you hope to see in the rest of the world.

There is a wonderful story told about the great Rabbi Hillel for whom the organization on our campus is named. He was confronted by a skeptic who demanded that Hillel teach him the entire Torah – the Bible – while standing on one foot. Hillel said no problem. Here was his response: "What is hateful to you, do not do unto others. The rest is commentary." Class of 2009, we hope during your time at Tufts that you have learned this most important lesson – how to treat others. Now it is up to you to reflect upon and write your own commentary.

To the parents and families assembled, thank you for sharing these remarkable young people with us for these past four years. I hope we are returning them to you a bit wiser, more worldly, more interesting, and mature. I think you will agree with me that amazing things can happen when you combine fabulous genes with a great education. You should be very proud of your sons and daughters. I assure you, we share in your pride.

And to the Class of 2009, I speak on behalf of all of the faculty and staff of Tufts when I say that it has been our privilege to share these four years with you. You have challenged us, inspired us, and taught us as well. We have great expectations for each of you and will follow your lives and careers with interest. No matter where you go or what you do, we will always proudly claim you as our students. Please stay in touch. Good luck to you all and God-speed.

Improvisation and the Art of the Possible:
Baccalaureate address to the Harvard Class of 2009

Memorial Church, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
June 2, 2009

As prepared for delivery

Greetings, Class of 2009.

It is a privilege to have these moments with you before you launch into the frenzy of Commencement and into the next stage of your lives.

Last year was my first Harvard Baccalaureate, and I marveled at the thought that I was standing in a pulpit dressed in the garb of a Puritan minister. At the time I said that the very idea of this would have prompted the likes of Increase and Cotton Mather into the first “Mather Lather.” They might even have renewed calls for the extirpation of witches.

Perhaps some of you feel similarly astonished to be arrayed in academic gowns and on the verge of being officially welcomed on Thursday into the ancient company of educated men and women. But here we all are, with our curious customs and costumes, and I am expected to offer just a few indispensable and unforgettable words of wisdom that will send you on your way. I emphasize “only a few,” since in keeping with other reductions, I have cut my remarks by 30 percent.

Well, Class of 2009, you have had quite a time.

You arrived on the heels of Hurricane Katrina and now depart in the wake of an economic storm that has changed the nation and the world.

And you have seen Harvard change.

You have had three presidents — only a select few Harvard grads can claim that honor. And you got all those presidents at a bargain rate as you benefited from a revolution in financial aid.

You’ve watched the gestation of a new curriculum — the emergence of Gen Ed and the lingering demise of the Core — and the appearance of new courses and programs like the joint degree with the New England Conservatory, the introduction of Life Sciences I, and the creation of PRISE [Harvard College Program for Research in Science and Engineering].

You’ve welcomed new student spaces like the Lamont Café, the Queen’s Head Pub, and the Women’s Center.

You have won two Rhodes Scholarships, four Marshalls, and two Olympic medals; one of you has written a play so good it is getting widespread professional attention; another has founded a nonprofit to bring electricity to rural Africa; and another is the youngest crossword puzzle creator to have been published in The New York Times Magazine. And I could go on and on.

And you have been lucky:

The football team has given you a victory over Yale to celebrate three out of four Novembers.

You have also escaped any threat to your right to a hot breakfast.

You are a historic class, 2009, because you have been seniors in this historic year — one that began with a power outage in the Yard and soon became momentous beyond imagining: the year of Obama; the year of financial failures unseen since the Great Depression; the year of imminent pandemic; the year the world became something very different from anything we ever expected.

And this unexpected past has led to a more uncertain future, for everyone, and quite immediately for you. That is why I want to take the next few minutes to talk to you not about the pursuit of excellence, which you are already very good at, but about the uses of uncertainty, which may be less familiar ground.

Last year — it now seems eons ago — I spoke to the Class of 2008 about why so many of them expressed uneasiness as they headed off to Wall Street, which often they described to me as less a choice than a default mode. As one student put it, “It's the choice for those who see real choice as too risky.” This year, the world has changed that for you. Your choices are different and you see them differently. And you are thinking not just about your own futures but about the future of others and of the world. This is evident in the unprecedented 14 percent of you who applied to Teach for America — nearly a 50 percent increase. I hope you are very proud of that.

And while we would never have wished for some of the events of this year, at least some of you find silver linings in its clouds. The upheaval has been “liberating, and lucky for me,” said one of you who is abandoning Wall Street for teaching; “a good excuse to do what I’m really passionate about,” said another.

Some of you, of course, will still find your calling in the financial industry, and it needs fresh eyes and strong constitutions. But for some of you, it’s as if you are allowed to have your midlife crisis in advance. It may not seem like a gift now, but it is. Instead of waking up when you are 45 suddenly wondering what your life means, you get to try something adventurous and uncertain while you are young and resilient. Fixing climate change, for example, or ending malaria or AIDS, or becoming a painter or a dancer or a novelist. It brings to mind that line of Gimli’s in “Return of the King”: “Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?”

Professor Daniel Gilbert reported in an op-ed in the Times two weeks ago that it is actually not the prospect of a more modest future that makes us unhappy. It’s an uncertain future. As he put it, “What you don’t know makes you nervous.” Yet we do not need to become uncertainty’s victims. We must claim its uses. Uncertainty demands new things from us: not just going through the motions, in default mode, but improvising our way to new solutions.

Improvisation. Joan Didion, a writer who has been charting our responses to change since the 1960s, has a memorable passage describing how her husband said they’d begun a trip to Paris in the right spirit: “He meant doing things not because we were expected to do them or had always done them or should do them,” she wrote, “but because we wanted to do them. He meant wanting. He meant living.”

She was referring to life as a kind of improvisation: that magical crossroads of rigor and ease, structure and freedom, reason and intuition. What she calls being prepared to “go with the change.” Uncertainty, in other words, makes us feel alive. As jazz great Charlie Parker put it, “Master your instrument, master the music, and then forget all that … and just play.”

If you find yourself doing this, it’s partly our fault. Because improvisation — from the Latin “not foreseen” — is what a liberal arts education has prepared you to do. We have resisted the notion of training you for a particular vocation — even as numbers of you traveled down Mass Ave. in search of accounting at MIT. We have insisted that the best education is the one that cultivates habits of mind, an analytic spirit, a capacity to judge and question that will equip you to adapt to any circumstance or take any vocational direction. When did such principles better suit circumstances than now? “Not foreseen” about sums it up; improvisation is certainly the appropriate order of the day, and you know intimately what it is.

Think about how uncertainty lies at the heart of so many intellectual fields.

In physics, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle has upended the classical conception of matter — where there were particles with well-defined properties, governed by universal laws of causation. We have accepted that there is no such final description of reality, but only what physicist David Bohm calls "the unending development of new forms of insight" — whether through string theory or neuroscience.

Medicine is another fundamentally uncertain, dilemma-ridden field, demanding creative choices and decisive action. At its best, as Harvard Medical School professor Atul Gawande tells us, it is a kind of carefully informed innovation. Be “positive deviants,” he advises those of you who want to go into medicine or public health; be people who ask “unscripted questions” and embrace change.

And what are the arts but rigorously prepared-for improvisation? Someone once called jazz the “sound of surprise.” Whether you’ve been in theater or base your film scripts on extended improvisations, you understand, as film director Mike Leigh puts it, that improvisational moments are highly structured and deeply researched, yet a “spontaneous … exploration of the unknown” when the actors finally improvise their parts. “All art,” as he says, “is a synthesis of improvisation and order.”

You also know by now that improvisation is collaborative. You might remember that Stephen Colbert came to campus during your sophomore year. He has described the basic rules of improv to a group of new graduates this way: You “go onstage … with no script,” and say “yes to what the other improviser initiates on stage … and they say ‘yes’ back. … It is more of a mutual discovery than a solo adventure.” It requires actors who are confident “in the best sense,” as Mike Leigh says. Not “overwhelmingly confident, but relaxed, cool, together, focused, open, intelligent, and with a sense of humor.” This, after four years, dear graduates, is you. At least we hope so.

So here is the rub. The world needs good improvisers. President Obama has called this moment in our history “a season of renewal and reinvention.” It is also an affirmation of just how much education matters, of how much you, as educated citizens, matter.

If we look back at the year, when the world shifted, we can remember how this affirmation came to us. How we gathered in Tercentenary Theatre on that freezing day in October to affirm our commitment to fight global warming. How so many of you became involved in the presidential campaigns, debated their merits, and poured onto the streets until past midnight after the election. How you have taken up causes from the rights of the undocumented, to equitable treatment of our lowest-wage workers, to health care reform. How so many of you have volunteered for every kind of public service — from teaching civics in the Cambridge schools, to rebuilding churches in Georgia during spring break, to combating AIDS in Botswana.

This sense of possibility is something I recognize. At my college graduation — which occurred in another historic year, 1968 — my class believed we would do nothing less than end racism, poverty, and war. The only question in our minds was whether we could do it all by our fifth reunion. Columnist Frank Rich, as a senior at Harvard in 1971, described in the Crimson this ether of wild aspiration — how his Harvard classmates had thought that by the time of their Commencement “the war would be over, … racial peace and harmony would be a fact of American life, and the Beatles would make another tour of the U.S.” I watched that sense of possibility grow in the late 1960s and 1970s, and then erode, as later graduates retreated into the private sphere, into adults making the best life they could for themselves. We didn’t get the Beatles back, either. That bright world of larger purpose, it seemed, was lost.

But now you have been given that world back, the world of the possible, in a way that hasn’t been true since my generation. You did not ask for this responsibility. It is difficult, and filled with contradictions and confusion and seeming impossibility. But remember that improvising in the face of change is exactly what your liberal arts education has prepared you to do, in the great tradition of freedom and law that defines an open society. The opportunity to renew our commitments and remap our lives is a privilege given only to some generations. This time it’s not just a possibility. It’s a necessity.

And so, as you go, I challenge you to fully inhabit this chance; to discover within it your own meaning; to re-create the values that will enable us to not get in this mess again. You have more tools for communicating than any generation in history. When I was your age and wanted to mobilize people, I went house to house knocking on doors; you reach hundreds in an instant through blogs and social networking Web sites.

The Office of Career Services says that in spite of all you face, you are feeling “resilient and optimistic.” What a pleasure it is to wish you a marvelous future. Keep mastering your instruments. Keep mastering the music. Keep saying “yes” to your fellow improvisers. And come back to us from time to time and let us know your progress. There is no group to whom I would rather hand the task. Because as Paul Simon once put it, “Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.”

Print Issue

May 26, 2009, Volume 55, No. 34

Back to Baccalaureate/Commencement Index

Penn Baccalaureate Address given Sunday, May 17, 2009 by President Amy Gutmann.

All Things Must Change

Graduates, family, friends, members of the faculty, Reverend Dr. Jones, and honored guests: Welcome, and congratulations to the great Class of 2009!

American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reminds us that “all things must change/to something new, to something strange.” Things have changed. The number of defining moments during your senior year easily tops every other graduating class of my Penn presidency.

In late October, those of us who are Phillies fans celebrated a long awaited World Series Championship. Soon after, on Election Day, we turned out in record numbers for one of the most path-breaking presidential races in history. And, later that night, the many Penn supporters of Barack Obama marched from campus to City Hall to celebrate a momentous victory. Just last month, you not only enjoyed yourselves at Spring Fling, but also launched a brand new Final Toast tradition during Hey Day, which should live on in Penn history.

Of course, this year wasn’t all ticker-tape parades and late-night celebrations. We also anxiously watched the financial system unravel and jobs disappear in a downturn of historical proportions almost as great as the election of the first African-American president.   

Like Alice in Wonderland, we felt ourselves tumbling down the rabbit hole, upended and uprooted. Now, we find ourselves in a new – and daunting – world of possibility. A world in dire need of you, our great Penn graduates.

But, how will you know which adventures to pursue? In Wonderland, the caterpillar offers Alice advice by posing three seemingly simple questions. Today, I ask the same three questions of you. 

The first—and most fundamental—question: Who are you?

At Penn, you answered this question by seeking out life changing experiences. You became lacrosse and soccer stars, Sphinxes and Friars, members of Red and Blue Racing, Alternate Spring Break, Penn Leads the Vote, Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

You searched for yourself, Penn-style, by connecting with others. Your answer to “who am I” changed many times, sometimes in the course of a day, because this question does not lend itself to a single or simple answer. Some of the very best answers emerged as you developed your talents in service to others. You honed your performing arts skills, for example, by entertaining and uplifting your fellow students—and me. You satisfied your yen for civic engagement by turning out the vote in record proportions in West Philadelphia. You grew larger as individuals by developing your many talents and serving others simultaneously.

Which leads to the second question: What size do you want to be?

The economic downturn makes some well-worn paths more difficult to travel down. But, just as surely, it creates opportunities for you to be maximally creative, and explore the unusual and the unknown.

It is just the right time to take your Penn education out for a spin, and to strive for greatness. By teaching for America or continuing your education in a field that truly captures your interest and imagination. By starting a green business and helping to save our imperiled planet. By writing a book, directing a documentary, creating a piece of art, or founding a comedy troupe that moves people. By saving and enhancing lives and engineering more effective ways of addressing some of the world’s toughest problems. The more difficult the challenges that you face head on, early on, in your post-Penn careers, the larger you will grow. And the happier and more successful you will be in your lifetime.

Which brings us to the caterpillar’s third and final question: Are you content now?

My guess is that you are in some sense content, but in no way complacent. Your class, the great Class of 2009, has given much to Penn, Philadelphia, and the world. You made a lasting impression on Penn and on me. You deserve to be extremely pleased with your achievements.

Yet, I am sure that you also are—in true Penn fashion—restless and eager. Things have changed, far too fast for anyone fully to comprehend. The world is new and strange. It is also exciting and challenging. This is the world that is awaiting you.

Meet it, as you have met one another and me, with open arms. Accept the challenge of knowing yourself, growing large, and as a consequence, even in tough times, gaining the greatest happiness. Penn expects nothing less of you. I am very proud of all you have accomplished and excitedly await your next adventures. Congratulations!

A Way in the Wilderness

Kindred Spirits is the title of one of the most famous paintings in the country at the time this college opened its doors. The artist was Asher Durand, and the painting was a tribute to the friendship of the painter Thomas Cole and the poet William Cullen Bryant.

Today is, in large part, about friendships and kindred spirits.

Class of 2009, what we told you is now coming true: the people to your left and to your right have, together with you, have come to the conclusion of your journey in this place. You have done this together, and if I were to ask you to name your kindred spirits, many of you would name someone within the range of your gaze. So take a moment and look around.

Tomorrow Dean Wood and President Dunlap have the high privilege of proclaiming you to be Wofford graduates. And then you will join the ranks of others, like our guests from the Class of 1959, who are known as Wofford alumni.

Class of ’59, welcome. Class of ’09, look at them. Some day you will look like that! Allow me to tell you a bit about each other.

• Their senior year (’59) the first air-conditioned residence hall, Wightman, was opened. They complained that the rooms were too small. Imagine complaining about housing! You lived in the Village.
• You enjoyed Fun Funds (’09) during your Wofford years. They had the “pleasure fund,” which made loans to juniors and seniors who were passing all of their classes.
• An Old Gold & Black article from Nov. 21, 1958 was entitled, “College is Renovating Trees.” “We realize that the trees are the most important part of our campus beauty,” said newly installed President Marsh, “and we intend to protect them as much as possible. A program of mass fertilization of old and new trees is planned.” You (’09) spent your Wofford days in the shade of a national arboretum.

Class of ’59, your senior year:
• Alaska was admitted as the 49th state.
• The Antarctica Treaty, setting aside that continent for “peaceful purposes and scientific investigation” was written in 1959. One of the Class of 2009 spent January studying climate change there.
• The Dalai Lama, fled Tibet and was granted asylum in India. A group of the Class of ’09 boarded a bus in front of Old Main their junior year and spent the day listening to him speak in Atlanta.
• Your senior year two monkeys, Able, a rhesus monkey, and Miss Baker, a squirrel monkey, became the first living beings to successfully return to Earth from space aboard the flight Jupiter AM-18. The Space Station has been occupied by humans virtually every day you (’09) have been here at Wofford.

Elvis was in the Army the spring of your senior year(’59), but A Big Hunk O Love was on the radio. And you gathered to listen to Mack the Knife, Put Your Head On My Shoulder, and 16 Candles. And you might have gathered ‘round the television to watch The Donna Reed Show, or Dragnet, or Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Remember?

Class of 2009, the year you were born:
The cost of a gallon of regular gas was $0.84. The Simpsons was seen on TV for the first time. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and South Park premiered when you were 10. Gray’s Anatomy premiered when you were seniors in high school.

When you arrived on campus (’09), you were listening to Mariah Carey, Gwen Stafani, Kelly Clarkson, Kanye West, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Faith Hill, GreenDay and 50 Cent. Remember?

The very day you appeared here for Orientation and The Summit, Hurricane Katrina pounded Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Many of you visited that area to help with home repair during your time here. Remember?

When I asked several members of the Class of 2009 what they would like me to speak about today, the theme of hope emerged again and again. It is an understatement to say that these are extraordinary times in which we live. The way ahead -the future-- is a wilderness, both inviting and daunting. Unknown. Anxiety about the future is everywhere. I turned on Gray’s Anatomy Thursday evening just in time to here Meredith Gray say:

We spend our whole lives worrying about the future, planning for the future, trying to predict the future.

As if figuring it out will somehow cushion the blow, but the future is always changing. The future is the home of our deepest fears, and our loves and our hopes. But one thing is certain: when it finally reveals itself, the future is never the way we imagined it.

When Warren Dupree traveled the north in 1855 to purchase scientific equipment for Wofford --there were no science classes here that year— I doubt he could have imagined what this place and these people would become. While he was there, studying at Yale, surely he heard of, and perhaps even met, Asher Durand. That year Durand was painting using a newly developed technology: the tin tube. The tube enabled painters to take their paints outside and paint landscapes as they saw them. That year Durand painted a marvelous landscape entitled “A Way in the Wilderness.”

Isn’t that something for which we long? A path into the future; a way into the wilderness.

The prophet Isaiah,--or Isaiah—depending upon the scholar with whom you studied, addresses this in a peculiar way: “Do not remember former things.”
It’s a curious passage. Do not remember the former things? That’s not what counselors tell us. They have a word for someone who refuses to deal with the past: “denial.” It’s more than a river in Egypt, and it is not a quality you especially want.

Do not remember the former things? That’s not what professors tell us. “Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.” George Santayana’s quotation has become a cliché we easily remember.

Those of us who try to lives as people of faith have traditions, sacred stories and scriptures that we read over and over and over.

We aren’t in the business of forgetting. We try to remember. Do not remember the former things? What’s up with that?

Today’s reading is a letter written to a community of exiles and captives in Babylon 2,500 years ago. They had run out of options. They didn’t have hope. They had no army, no leaders, no temple.

You can just imagine those people spending most of their time remembering the good old days, how it used to be. David was King, the army was feared, there was food enough for everyone in the good ol’ days. Then the prophet, speaking on behalf of God, says:

“Stop it!”? “Get over the good ‘ol days; I am about to do a new thing.”

One theologian puts it this way: “There are two ways of looking at time—Is the source of time behind us… Or is the source of time ahead of us, pulling us out of history into the future.” If the latter, then “the present always has within it the seeds of hope.” (Cadbury Lectures in Theology at the University of Birmingham, John V. Taylor.) ?

It’s an odd promise God makes, when you think about it. But, as Flannery O’Connor once said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you odd.”

God’s odd promise is not to subdue the wilderness; only to make a way through it. Even Jesus, as he merged from the Jordan, entered a wilderness of temptation.

God’s odd promise is not to take away the desert, or take you out of it, only to find some water in it. God’s odd promise is not to tame the wild animals.
No, the only promise is to make a way and to find the water.

That is the promise for us, for all of us. God will do a new thing. No matter how wonderful-or weird-- things seem to us today, God will do a new thing.

And it isn’t clear what that will be; there is no promise to fix or mend or make everything right. There is only the promise to make a way in the wilderness.

People of faith believe time inhabited by God. Wherever we go, God will be there. Whatever happens to us, God will be there. God will do a new thing.

While God is doing a new thing, there are two practical things we can do—not simply believe, but do, as well. We can do these every day. One is to laugh. The other is to give.

In Apache tradition there is a myth that the Creator made people able to walk and talk, see and hear, taste and smell. But the Creator wasn’t satisfied. Finally he made man laugh, and when man laughed and laughed, the Creator said, “Now you are fit to live.”

In Navajo culture, there is something called the First Laugh Ceremony. Each Navajo baby is kept on a cradle-board until she or he laughs for the first time. The tribe then throws a celebration in honor of the child’s first laugh. That moment is considered the child’s birth as a social being. Laugh!

A wise woman was traveling in the mountains and she found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was very hungry. She opened her bag and began to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”
What we give is precious; that we give is even more precious.

If, when you leave this place, you are attentive to laughter and generosity and the presence of God, then you won’t be shattered by failure or seduced by success.

My prayer is that you will rise each and every day and say, “Today, God is about to do a new thing.” Then I hope you’ll go out and look for it. And I hope that somewhere in the course of that day, there will be an opportunity to laugh, and an opportunity to give. If you find these things, you will have found your way.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Baccalaureate Address: The Economy and the Human Spirit

President Richard C. Levin
May 24, 2009
Yale University

When I welcomed you four years ago, you were exhilarated but apprehensive, excited to be taking on a new challenge, but more than a little intimidated – awed by the imposing architecture of this place, by the grandeur of this hall, by the rumble of its great organ, and by the dazzling accomplishment of your classmates, who all seemed to you to belong here, even if you were not quite sure about yourself. Now, appropriately, you feel as if you own the place; every corner of your college, every face in the dining hall, is familiar to you. You have made close friends, and you have memories you will never forget. While all this happened to you the world around you was flourishing. And Yale was flourishing, too – building and renovating at an astonishing pace, adding new international programs, and enhancing financial aid to make the whole experience a lighter burden on your families.

Who would have imagined, four years ago, that the world economy would collapse? As you leave here, it is hard not to think about this unhappy reality. So, as an economist and as your president, I would like to offer you my perspective on what has happened and what it means for you.

The world economy is a mess.¹ In the United States, we have experienced the sharpest reduction in gross domestic product in five decades, and the ride is not yet over. As many of you know all too well, jobs are scarce. Within the past year, the unemployment rate has increased from 5.0% to 8.9%, and, unfortunately, it is more likely than not to exceed 10% before declining again.

How did we get here? Not, I believe, because of any inherent flaws in the nature of the market system. This is a very important point. Indeed, the ascendancy of markets, the relative demise of centrally-planned economies over the past thirty years, the opening of nations to freer international trade and investment, and the rapid advance of science and technology have led to unprecedented levels of global economic growth. Even in the midst of this downturn it is crucial to remember that more people, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the world’s population have crossed the poverty line in the past thirty years than in any previous period of history.²

The cause of the current crisis is less fundamental: we accumulated too much debt – mortgages, credit card debt, corporate debt, debt to support financial speculation, and government debt.³ From January 1981, when Ronald Reagan took office, to September 2008 the ratio of total national debt – public and private – grew steadily from 160% to nearly 360% of gross domestic product.⁴

As we have seen all too painfully, when individuals have lots of debt, declining asset prices trigger delinquencies, defaults, housing foreclosures, personal bankruptcies, corporate bankruptcies, and bank insolvency. Financial institutions lack the capital and the confidence to make new loans. Consumers and businesses reduce their spending. Company profits and stock values fall. Output and income decline, and wealth evaporates because the promise of future earnings that supports the valuation of assets is no longer credible. This is where we are now, with our national wealth – personal and institutional – down by more than 25%. Virtually every family in this hall has felt the impact of this disastrous sequence of consequences.⁵

History teaches that all credit expansions are followed by recessions or depressions. It also teaches that recovery follows recession. The right mix of government policies can make recovery happen faster.⁶ But, in the end, fast or slow, we will recover, as long as the market is allowed to direct the immensely creative and productive forces embodied in emerging technologies and in our educated citizens including you, in particular. It will get better. It is just a question of when.

Meanwhile, you may be wondering why you had the bad luck to graduate now. I know that the process of finding a first job has been more difficult and stressful for you than for your immediate predecessors, and I know that many of you do not yet have definite plans for the year ahead. But do not be discouraged. There are exciting opportunities waiting for you, and little reason for despair. I want to reassure you and your parents that the investment of time, energy, and money that you have made in your Yale education will be abundantly repaid. It will be repaid in a material sense; it will reward you with personal fulfillment, and, most important, it has prepared you for lives of service to family, community, the nation, and the world.

To put matters in perspective, remember that you came here to reflect on the world around you, to expose yourselves to new ways of thinking, to encounter brilliant teachers, to make use of extraordinary library and museum resources, to develop the capacity to think critically, to express yourselves clearly, and to find, both in the classroom and in extracurricular pursuits, the passions that motivate you. You have done all this and more. By encountering classmates from all 50 states and 41 nations, you have learned to appreciate the diversity of human talents and perspectives. Thanks to Yale’s extensive array of international programs, the great majority of you have had a chance to experience life in a different culture. You are not just four years older; by virtue of what you have learned about the world around you and about yourselves, you are immensely more capable of taking on life’s challenges. You may doubt my conclusion at this bittersweet moment of separation. But believe me, you are ready to leave.

And think of all the exciting possibilities that are open to you.

Let us start by noticing that there has been a dramatic change in our national agenda, the most significant change of course in nearly thirty years. Whatever your political persuasion, if you care about health care, education, or the sustainability of the planet, now is the time to get involved. Think about opportunities to engage with these issues – either in government or in the private sector, whether for-profit or non-profit. The years immediately ahead are going to have consequences for a long time to come.

Some of you are already responding to this call. The number of you enlisted to serve in Teach for America, the largest single employer of Yale College graduates, has more than doubled in the last two years. In America’s schools, there are promising signs of reform all around, led by the spectacular success of new approaches that instill confidence and a drive for achievement in the most disadvantaged of our youth. Whether it is the charter school models introduced by organizations such as KIPP in New York City and Achievement First here in New Haven, or public school reforms associated with a wide array of family services as in the Harlem Children’s Zone, we are seeing powerful evidence of improved performance. As the new administration and some of our largest foundations continue to embrace these new ideas, more opportunities will arise to engage you. You might think about following in the footsteps of Yale graduates David Levin, the co-founder of KIPP, or Dacia Toll, the co-founder of Achievement First, and contributing to the renaissance of primary and secondary education in the United States.

Or think about helping to address the challenge of global warming. In America and elsewhere around the globe, there is going to be massive public and private investment in new energy technologies. This will create tremendous opportunities not only for those of you interested in science, engineering, or public policy but also for those of you interested in business, where you might help launch entrepreneurial “cleantech” startups, or make established businesses greener and more socially responsible. In this arena you might take as your model Yale graduates like Frances Beinecke, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, or Kevin Czinger, whose company, Miles Electric Vehicles, is one of several hoping to be first to the market with an all-electric car suitable for highway driving and daily commuting.

Or perhaps, as America adopts a new and more collaborative approach to foreign policy, you might think about building a career that contributes to greater international cooperation and understanding. Legions of Yale graduates before you have pursued this noble calling: from Sargent Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps, to Joseph Reed, longtime Undersecretary General of the United Nations, to career diplomats like John Negroponte, to our current Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Perhaps the Peace Corps, the military, or the foreign service would be a good first step toward such a career.

I was vividly reminded of the abundance of opportunities before you just two months ago, when I convened a group of Yale alumni in Silicon Valley to advise me on how the University might take better advantage of new media in carrying out its educational mission. Around the table were Yale graduates who have been instrumental in the founding and development of companies such as Microsoft, Palm, RealNetworks, Electronic Arts, and Facebook. Having come to California fresh from a series of gloomy meetings with Yale graduates in the New York financial community, I was astounded by the unbridled optimism of those in the new media and technology business. The prospects for investment, they told me, have never been better. The cost of launching a media business, thanks to the development of widely available software platforms and tools, is lower than ever, and the possibilities for creative engagement with the user community are unprecedented. So in addition to contemplating a contribution in education, or energy and sustainability, or foreign relations, you might also think about new media, where Yale graduates have helped to create entirely new forms of enterprise that did not exist a generation ago. You can do the same.

I cite these specific paths not to limit your imagination, but to encourage you to recognize that opportunities are everywhere. The education you have acquired here has given you the breadth and flexibility to take on the widest array of possible challenges, and it has given you the depth and rigor to make a meaningful difference wherever you choose to apply your talent.

In 1930, at the darkest moment of the Great Depression, the economist John Maynard Keynes wrote:

We are suffering just now from a bad attack of economic pessimism. It is common to hear people say that the epoch of enormous economic progress … is over; that the rapid improvement of the standard of life is now going to slow down … ; that a decline in prosperity is more likely than an improvement …

I believe that this is a wildly mistaken interpretation of what is happening to us. We are suffering, not from the rheumatics of old age, but from the growing-pains of over-rapid changes … The increase of technical efficiency has been taking place faster than we can deal with …; the improvement in the standard of life has been a little too quick …⁷

Keynes went on to predict that the standard of living in advanced capitalist countries would increase by a factor of four to eight over the next century. He was right; in the nearly eighty years since 1930, the per capita gross domestic product in the United States, adjusted for inflation, has increased by a factor of six.

Keynes’ source of confidence about the future was a belief in the power of creativity and innovation, expressed through the efforts of free, well-educated individuals to apply scientific knowledge and human ingenuity to the development of new technologies, new products, and new services to improve material well-being.
The potential for material advance is no less abundant in the United States today than it was in Keynes’ Britain of eight decades ago. And, what is even more abundant today is the potential for moving beyond material advance to a better quality of life for all – toward a healthier population, a cleaner environment, a better educated and wiser citizenry, a more peaceful world.

Women and men of the class of 2009: You have within you the creative potential to make a better world for us all. Here at Yale you have learned to think critically and independently, and you have the flexibility and resourcefulness to make the most of any situation. The world is all before you. Choose your direction, and prove that this time of crisis is also a time of opportunity. You can do it. Yes, you can.

周其凤校长在北京大学 2009 年毕业典礼上的讲话

2009-07-08

同学们：

今天是一个值得隆重庆祝并且会让我们永远记忆和珍藏的日子 ! 大 家就要毕业了，就要从北大出发，走上人生的新征程。作为你们的校长、老师，也作为北大的一名老学生，我的心情和大家一样激动。看到同学们的成长，看到你们 取得的成绩，看到大家值得憧憬的远大前途，我由衷地感到高兴。在这里，我要代表学校的全体老师和员工，向同学们致以最热烈的祝贺！向关心北大、爱护北大、 支持北大的各位家长、中学校长和老师们表示衷心的感谢和诚挚的问候！

我是去年年底回母校担任校长的。各位同学是我 在北大送走的第一届毕业生。临别在即，看着大家我的内心充满不舍，此时此刻，我要以怎样的话语来送别诸位呢？想了又想，还是用我在这大半年的时间里讲得最 多的一句话，就是“服务国家战略”来勉励大家吧。之所以讲这个话，既是我自己学习北京大学校史的心得，也来源于我对当今世界发展趋势的思考，还是我个人读 书、治学几十年的经验总结。在今天这个庄重的场合，我想与即将离开母校的各位同学一起来分享自己的这些思考。

新儒家的代表人物、哈佛大学燕京学社的前任社 长杜维明教授曾经这样评价北大，他说：“五四以来，北京大学不仅是中华民族争取独立自主的象征，而且是现代中国哲学家、史学家、文学家、社会学家、政治学 家和自然科学家所向往的精神家园。仅此一端，世界其他大学，如东京、首尔、哈佛、牛津或柏林都无法望其项背。”

杜 先生的话，对我们所有北大人都是一种鞭策，也说明了北大之所以为北大。北大从诞生之日起，就与国家的命运始终紧密相连。从 1898 年到现在，在中华民族解放和振兴的历史上几乎所有的重大事件，北大人都没有缺席。为了我们这个古老民族的伟大复兴，北大人前赴后继，献出了智慧、心血乃至生命。这在世界大学发展史上也是鲜见而独特的历史贡献。

今天在座的各位同学，在北大求学的这几年时间 里，都亲身经历了许多历史性的大事件，对中国的和平崛起应该有着最切身的体会。我们遭遇了罕见的大灾难，但是灾难中我们所表现出来的应变能力和民族凝聚力 是惊人的；我们举办了一届无与伦比的奥运会，就在大家现在所在的这个体育场里，国歌一次又一次地奏响，很多同学亲自参与了奥运志愿服务，你们自信的微笑， 你们所展现出来的高素质，让全世界的媒体都给予了毫不吝惜的赞美；我们还正在经历一场百年难遇的全球金融危机，但是就在这场危机中，中国的国际地位变得更 加举足轻重。

可以说，中国的崛起已经是任何力量都无法阻遏 的历史趋势。国运兴，教育兴，北大兴。北大只有把自己的发展深深融入到国家发展的战略体系之中，始终牢记我们工作的意义是什么、目的是什么、动力是什么、 依靠是什么，才能够实现一百多年来几代北大人的一流大学之梦。北大曾经在中国的现代化进程中扮演了不可替代的重要角色，未来还应该继续成为推动中国现代化 的强大动力源泉，我想，只要我们做出了这样的历史性贡献，那就可以当之无愧地说，北大是世界第一流的。

北大的发展，离不开服务国家战略；我们每一位同学的发展，同样要把服务国家战略作为立足点和着眼点。在这里，我想给大家举一些校友的例子，也给大家提出三点希望：

第一，希望同学们培养战略的眼光，站得高一些，看得远一些，把个人的发展融入国家的发展。

我们北京大学物理系 1949 届的毕业生、“两弹一星功勋奖章”获得者、被称为“中国氢弹之父”的于敏院士，由于种种原因，之前并没有出过国，但是这完全没有妨碍他站到了世界科技的高峰，因为他很早就看准了核物理这个学科发展的大方向，也看准了国家发展核技术的大方向。

彭桓武院士曾经讲，“于敏的工作完全是靠自 己，没有老师，因为国内当时没有人会原子核理论。他是开创性的。”钱三强院士也认为，正是于敏的工作，“填补了我国原子核理论的空白”。于敏院士自己曾经 讲过一段话，他说：“一个现代化的国家没有自己的核力量，就不能有真正的独立。面对这样庞大的题目，我不能有另一种选择。一个人的名字，早晚是要没有的。 能把微薄的力量融进祖国的强盛之中，便足以自慰了。”

历史已经记住了于敏，记住了这位毕业于 60 年前的北大人，因为他用自己的智慧放射出了灼热的能量和耀眼的光芒，他把自己的名字和国家的强盛联系在了一起，所以他的名字将永恒。

我们再看王选院士、徐光宪院士，这两位国家科学技术最高奖的获得者，他们在选择科研方向、人生方向的时候，也都具有了不起的眼光。国家发展最需要什么，他们就选择什么。他们从来不会问国家能为自己做些什么，而是问自己能为国家做些什么。 这样的道路，一定是成功的道路。

第二，希望同学们牢固地树立服务人民意识，扎根到人民群众之中，时时刻刻不要忘本。

北大的学生无疑是众多优秀青年的代表。同学们 在北大接受了中国最好的教育，通过进一步地努力，将来应该成为社会的精英。而所谓的精英，就是要能够给大家引领方向。德国大哲学家费希特在《论学者的使 命》中曾经说，一个社会中的知识精英，“他的进步决定着人类发展的一切其他领域的进步；他应该永远走在其他领域的前头，以便为他们开辟道路，研究这条道 路，引导他们沿着这条道路前进。”

北大的学生应该有这样的使命感和勇气，如果北大的学生都不敢为天下先，那我们还能有多少朝气？但与此同时，我希望大家在仰望天空的时候，同时要关注脚下的大地。始终不要忘记，既着眼于长远，又要立足于现实，在任何时候，都要以国家、人民的利益为根本。

老北大的校门口挂着一块牌子，写着“学堂重 地，闲人免进”。后来蔡元培先生来当北大校长，就把这块牌子取掉了，他主持开办了“平民夜校”，要北大的教授和学生利用晚上的时间，为北大的校工上课。 “平民夜校”今天仍然还在开办，就是工会、团委、教育学院几家联合办的“平民学校”。在座的很多同学曾在这个学校里担任志愿者，我感谢你们。我希望，将来 你们到了社会上，能够继续多做这样实实在在的事情，不要太“小资”，不要浮躁，要深入基层，关心时势，服务于广大人民群众的需要，要把党和国家的需要和老 百姓的疾苦当成是北大人自己的事情。

比尔•盖茨在哈佛大学 2007 年 的毕业典礼上讲过一段话，我印象非常深刻，他说：“人类的最大进步并不体现在发现和发明上，而是如何利用它们来消除不平等。不管通过何种方式，民主、公共 教育、医疗保健、或者是经济合作，消除不平等才是人类的最大成就。”我也想把这段话送给今年毕业的各位同学，我希望你们为了促进中国社会的进步、繁荣、和 谐和稳定，作出北大人应有的贡献。

第三，希望同学们在高扬理想主义的同时，也发扬为人老实、作风朴实、学习踏实、工作务实的求实精神。

北大的学生总是充满激情的，我们这所大学，也是中国“理想主义者的精神家园”。我始终都相信，理想主义者在推动国家社会的进步方面，能够发挥更大的作用。将来大家到了社会上摸爬滚打，也许会磨去许多棱角，但是，北大人特有的那种理想主义的气质，应该永远保持。

高扬理想主义，并不是要高调做人、高声说话、 眼高手低。我在学校外面，常常听到别人夸奖北大学生如何如何了不起，这个时候，我既感到骄傲，又有些担心，担心大家浮躁，我希望同学们为人低调、老实，以 诚待人，不要虚情假意；要保持朴实作风，不事张扬，为国家为社会为老百姓做实事，不沾染浮华的习气；要继续学习，崇尚科学，认真读书，勤于实践，大胆探 索，要真正做到专业基础好，学问有功力，工作有方法，行为得拥护。

我知道有一些同学，可能就业的情况与自己的期望值差距比较大，我要告诉大家的是不要气馁，要受得住磨练，我相信，真正的北大人，一定能够从最基层、最平凡的岗位干出不平凡的业绩。

我也很高兴地了解到，今年毕业的同学中，有不少选择去了西部、去农村、去国家重点行业和骨干企业。胡春华校友和吴奇修校友的事迹，大家都非常熟悉了，我希望大家以他们为榜样，一点一滴去积累，一步一步去奋斗，实实在在地建功立业。

同学们！

今天，各位正站在一个历史的关键点上。我们国 家的经济已经持续三十年高速发展，政治稳定，社会保持着充分的活力，这是中国历史所罕见的盛世。国家的崛起，已经为你们提供了人生最好的舞台。美好的画 卷，正待你们用青春的力量尽情地去书写！我希望你们，把握机遇，再创辉煌，让你们的人生在服务国家战略，为人民谋福祉的过程中熠熠生辉！我相信大家，祝福 大家，母校将永远关注、支持你们！

牢记责任 独立思考 诚信为人
──在清华大学2009年本科生毕业典礼暨学位授予仪式上的讲话
（2009年7月15日）
清华大学校长 顾秉林
同学们：
毕业的钟声已经响起，你们即将告别大学本科生活，走入新的学习或工作岗位。在此，我首先代表学校，对同学们顺利完成学业，表示热烈的祝贺！向多年来为同学们的成长付出辛勤劳动的教职员工，表示衷心的感谢！也向支持学校发展、关爱你们成长的家长们，表示亲切的问候！
四年前的开学典礼上，我曾向大家提出“志存高远、学业精深、体魄强健”的三点希望。四年来，我们共同见证了“嫦娥一号”奔月、“神六”“神七”升空、抗 击汶川地震、成功举办奥运等一系列重大历史事件，相信这些经历会进一步增强大家报效祖国、服务人民的事业心、责任心和使命感。四年来，同学们也亲身见证和 参与了清华跻身世界一流大学的进程，在学校深入开展因材施教、大力加强实践教育、培养拔尖创新人才的过程中，努力学习、全面发展，做到了收获知识、增强才 干、健康成长。51-51免 费论文网-网-欢迎您
两个多月 前，温家宝总理来到清华园，与我校毕业生代表座谈，殷切希望清华学子“要把自己的命运和国家的命运连在一起”。清华今天的地位和影响，来自于近百年来一代 代清华人为国家和民族发展做出的巨大贡献。而未来，更要靠包括各位在内的新一代清华人拼搏进取。在这个民族复兴、大浪淘沙的时代里，各位同学责无旁贷，也 大有可为！
今天，在同学们即将本科毕业之际，我再送给同学们三句话，就是：牢记责任、独立思考、诚信为人。51-51免 费论文网-网-欢迎您
第一，牢记责任。去年我们刚刚纪念了改革开放30周年，今年又值五四运动90周年和新中国成立60周年，中国在全球金融危机不断蔓延的形势下，正处于保 持经济发展、构建和谐社会的重要时期。“青年者，国家之魂”，祖国的兴衰都寄托在一代代青年身上。中国传统文化要求“修身、齐家、治国、平天下”，同学们 无论何时何地都不能忘记对自己、对家庭和对国家的责任。刚才徐航校友在发言中说到：“不要先问国家为你做了什么，而首先要问你为国家做了些什么。”这句话 看似简单，实际上蕴涵着深刻的含义。我们有些同学，毕业后好多年，自己感觉没有什么大的长进，说起来往往是“我们那里根本没有什么什么”等等抱怨。其实当 你抱怨时，就是在自觉或不自觉地推卸自己的责任。所谓牢记责任，就是无论顺境逆境，都能够坚定地为着自己的使命而努力奋斗。希望同学们能够时刻告诫自己作 为国家培养的高层次人才所应当担负的历史与时代重任，认真做好每一项工作，做出清华人应有的贡献。51-51免 费论文网-网-欢迎您
第二，独立思考。著名国学大师陈寅恪为王国维纪念碑撰文说：“惟此独立之精神，自由之思想，历千万祀，与天壤而同久，共三光而永光”。只有勤于思考、善 于思考、独立思考的人，才能从生活中获得智慧。面对复杂的社会需要独立思考，特别是在当前网络发达、信息爆炸的时代，只有深入和理性的思考，才能对事物做 出正确的判断，才能坚持正确的价值取向；面对人生和发展需要独立思考，在世界上没有两片完全相同的叶子，也没有两条完全一样的道路，不能审慎思考，就会随 波逐流，就会失去自己的方向和道路；面对未来的科研或其它工作也需要独立思考，独立思考是创新的源泉，没有深刻的独立思考过程，就会囿于既有的知识而难以 突破。所以，希望同学们坚持独立思考、慎思笃行。51-51免 费论文网-网-欢迎您
第三，诚信为人。孔子有言：“人而无信，不知其可也。”在浮躁之风日甚的今天，要完成自己的历史责任，一个最根本的立脚点就是诚信，这是为人、为学最基 本的准则。近年来，社会上频频发生诚信危机事件，教育和学术界也存在着不同程度的学术失范，有的还比较严重。这些事件究其本质，都是丧失了诚信为人的基本 准则。在座的同学们大部分将继续深造，希望大家能够重视学风修养，恪守学术道德，自觉抵制学术不端行为。对于参加工作的同学们来说，诚信也是立业之本、成 功之道。人不信于一时，则不信于一世。有一个故事，讲的是一名新生在入学报到时，拜托一位老者帮他照看行李，但办完手续后直到中午才想起行李的事情，他赶 快跑回去，发现等待了一个上午的老者依旧站在原地，这位老者就是我校校友季羡林老学长。季羡林先生一生严谨为学、诚信为人，永远是我们学习的典范。51-51免 费论文网-网-欢迎您
4天前，季老不幸过世了。他在生前写过一篇著名的散文，题为《清华颂》，其中深情地讲到：“清华园，永远占据着我的心灵。回忆起清华园，就像回忆我的母 亲。”今天，同学们就要离开母校了。我相信同学们一定能够不忘母校的嘱托，发扬母校的精神，在时代大潮中勇往直前，努力为中华民族的伟大复兴做出应有的贡 献！
再过两年，清华将迎来一百周年校庆。衷心希望到时候能够再见到大家，让我们一起庆祝母校百年华诞！
谢谢大家！

张杰在上海交大2009届毕业典礼上的讲话

亲爱的同学们：

今天，2009年6月27日，是一个值得在座同学们铭记的日子。此时此刻，我们相聚在这里，隆重举行上海交通大学2009届本科生毕业典礼，全 体交大人，和你们亲爱的家人一起见证这一庄严神圣的时刻。首先，请允许我代表全校师生员工，向你们表示最热烈的祝贺！同时，我提议，请全体毕业生同学们， 用最真挚的掌声，向孜孜不倦、辛勤培育你们的老师，向为你们成长成才服务的教职员工们，表示深深的感谢！同时，在今天典礼的现场，有很多同学的家长，我想 说对你们说，孩子们的荣耀同样属于你们！

大学四年，是人生中最美好的一段时光。四年前，同学们怀着求知之心、报国之志，以优异的成绩，进入交通大学，相聚浦江之滨，开始了大学生涯。四年的交大生活，使你们深深地爱上了交大校园的一草一木，也让交大牢牢地记住了你们的一言一行。

同学们，你们在校的四年，对于祖国，对于交大，都是不平凡的四年。在这四年里，你们是祖国繁荣强盛的见证者，你们是交大腾飞奋进的见证者。你们 用自己的智慧、才干和行动为母校增光添彩，谱写了动人篇章。许多同学在国内外高水平学科赛事上摘金夺银，成绩斐然，为学校赢得了荣誉，在各类舞台上展示了 交大学生的风采。母校为你们的成绩而自豪，为你们的成长感到欣慰！我们，母校的老师，更将把你们的每一次成功、每一份精彩，都珍藏在记忆深处。

同学们，你们在校四年，勤奋学习，快乐生活，勇于实践，追求进步，在学业和思想上不断走向成熟。在这四年内，在你们中间，有25人次获得上海市 三好学生、优秀学生干部，有641人次获得上海交通大学三好学生、优秀学生干部，有199人次获得国家奖学金，有32人次获得上海市奖学金，有443人次 获得国家励志奖学金，有15人次获得校自强自立先进奖。你们用自己的行动和成绩证明，你们无愧于“交大人”这一光荣称号！

同学们，你们中的大多数出生于改革开放以后的80年代末，你们的成长伴随着中国经济的快速发展，你们是中华民族最值得骄傲、最值得自豪的时代的 宠儿。然而，中国经济的快速发展、人民生活的极大改善是以自然资源的超常规利用和生态环境的超常规损失为代价的。因此，如何实现中国经济发展模式的转型， 到2020年顺利将我国建成创新型国家，全面建成小康社会是我们必须思考和回答的问题，而你们正是完成这个伟大历史使命的中坚力量。大学毕业，是人生发展 的重要里程碑。你们人生未来的十年，既是中国高速发展的战略机遇期，也是你们迎接挑战、迈向事业辉煌的黄金时期。祖国的每一片土地都充满着发展机遇和挑 战，你们应将自身的发展和祖国强盛紧密相联，抓住这难得的大显身手的机遇，努力拼搏，敢为人先，勇于担当，出色完成这个伟大时代所赋予你们的光荣使命！

临别之际，有些不舍；但对你们的未来,我更充满信心。作为你们的师长，作为大家的杰哥，在这个特殊的时刻，我想再给大家嘱咐三句话：

第一句话：要主动学习，适应新环境。求学以来，你们一直都是同龄人中的佼佼者。进入新环境，要虚心学习，乐于接受挑战。既要适应顺境，更要敢于 面对逆境、接受挫折。在未来的生活中，你们可能会遇到工作的失利、爱情的苦闷、疾病的折磨，但是，无论何时，请不要放弃对生活的热爱、对幸福的追求、对和 平的珍惜。无论顺境逆境，只要我们通过学习不断充实自己，就一定能够收获成功和幸福。

第二句话：要充分准备，成为领导者。请相信，在不远的将来，你们中大多数将有机会成长为方方面面领导者，而机遇总会垂青那些有准备的人，因此你 们要热爱工作团队，善待你的同事，关心他们成长，与他们分享工作的乐趣。你一定要记住，他们需要你的激励、理解和支持，因为你也是团队中的一员。请记住， 激励团队成员的最好方式不是让他们担心和害怕，而是让他们感到受尊重和有价值。

第三句话：要心怀感恩，回报社会。“饮水思源，爱国荣校”是交通大学的校训，感恩和责任，是它的精神内核。感恩，是一种处世哲学，是生活的大智 慧。感恩，是一种歌唱生活的方式，它来自对生命的爱与希望。学会感恩，感谢社会给予你的一切。百年学府，带给你们的是荣耀，但更多的是责任与担当。在你们 求学的道路上，得到许多人的关心和帮助。当你们有能力时，一定要记得以各种方式回报国家、社会和所有关心和关爱你们的人。

同学们，“宏图在胸，重任在肩。迎向那真理之光，扬起青春的风帆。交大，交大，群英汇聚，同舟共济远航彼岸。为自强而奋发，为人类多贡献”,当 熟悉的旋律响起，你们将满怀激情和梦想踏上人生新的旅程。让我们团结一心，携手未来，与国家的前途、民族的兴衰休戚与共，共同创造交通大学新的辉煌，让我 们将兴校的激情与强邦的梦想涌动在所有交大人的血液中，一起拥抱激情，放飞梦想！

杨玉良在复旦2009年本科生毕业典礼上的讲话

各位2009届的同学们，你们好！

我想先擦去眼角的一些泪花，否则我恐怕看不清楚我的稿子。

4年以前，你们来到复旦 ，和所有的复旦人一起享受 复旦的百年庆典。那时候，你们作为最年轻 的复旦人，积极忙碌在校庆的各项活动中。和以往历届的学生相比，甚至是和以后若干年的各届学生相比，你们在复旦的生涯有着一个不同凡响的开端。

4年以前，同样在这个体育馆，我们举行开学典礼。4年以后，你们中的大部分人将离开复旦，或者说暂时离开。你们是我就任校长 以来送走的第一批毕业 生，我既为你们感到高兴，内心也充满了遗憾。这半年来，除了一次面向学生的公开演讲 外，单独和毕业生的交流只有两次，一次是“我为母校献‘金点子’”座谈会，一次和去国外留学 的毕业生代表的交流。我希望和大家的交流能够更多些，更深入些，更广泛 些，也更生动随意些。

如果有更多的时间，我最想和大家交流的是有关通识教育 的话题。4年前你们来到复旦，我们一起见证了复旦学院的成立。根据我们对人才 培养的理解，我们希望通过建立书院的制度 ，鼓励有不同兴趣 、专长、天赋及学科背景、不同地区，甚至不同国家的学生朝夕相处，促进多元文化融合。同时透过复旦学院这一平台，我们不断完善通识教育体系，其目的是希望复旦的学生能够了解不同知识的统一和差别，了解不同学科的智慧境界和思考方式，养成独立思考的习惯，养成完整的人格。

4年后我们来评价第一届复旦学院的学生和以往的学生有什么不同。他们告诉我，至少有两点值得肯定。首先是你们有更多的朋友，除了本专业 的同学外，许多同学和第一年在复旦学院认识的同学结下了深厚的友谊，这是一笔不小的人生财富 。前两天我去看毕业墙，我看到上面除了在醒目的地方写着“天黑请闭眼”之外，许多学生都在自己 的名字后面注上自己在复旦学院时班级的名字。第二，你们自我意识较强，个性独立而张扬，对自己感兴趣的事物充满热情，并积极投身其中，为其付出不懈的努力，并且取得了不俗的成绩，组织能力也很强。只是也很难听取辅导员和老师 的批评意见。

如果仅仅是这些，那么离我们的期望还有很大的差距。客观地说，我们推进通识教育，确实面临各种各样的障碍，受到中国整体教育方式片面性和社会大环境的功利化倾向的影响 ，但更主要的问题来自于学校自身理念认识上的模糊和分歧，体制机制的制约和师资资源准备上的不足。我们经常说要通过推进通识教育，高扬复旦的精神，努力改变本科教育狭窄的现状，扭转应试教育带来的弊端，进而抵制社会普遍 的功利心理 ，这是复旦的理想主义，是复旦的社会责任。

我们坚持贯彻通识教育理念的决心和勇气，但我们也决不回避存在的问题。你们是第一届复旦学院的学生，体会很深。有的同学反映，在复旦第一年的生活就是被 各种活动折腾，到毕业的时候调侃说，被折腾也是成长的一部分；也有同学说，复旦学院“散养”这一年，少了点指引，多了点诱惑到毕业时，你们也调侃说“散 养”才导致了个性的独立和张扬。当然，你们发现，这几年我们一直在不断改进，我们建立了六大板块的核心课程，并且不断充实内容，不断加以规范。但依然存在 核心课程内涵不足、通识教育与专业教育脱节等问题。

复旦的通识教育，应该同时传递科学和人文的精神。显然，通识教育不是娱乐版的知识 普及教育，把各种各样的知识给学生一点，不叫通识教育；同时，通识教育也不仅仅是人文精神教育，还有科学精神。希望我们复旦的毕业生怀着理想之心，带着科 学精神和人文精神走上社会，保持崇高的责任感和使命意识，不断增强对生命的感悟力。叶应该耸向云天，根却要扎在大地。我们的通识教育要引导学生尊重理想、 尊重科学，善于探究，追求真理。

复旦的通识教育，应该展示不同的文化和思维方式。世界是丰富多彩的，不同地域、不同民族和不同种族的 人们有着不同的文化传承，展示出独特的智慧光芒。通识教育要告诉学生主导未来世界的文化是什么，然后教会学生独立思考的能力，在纷杂的世界里保持清醒的头 脑和独特的个性，同时在与人相处和沟通的过程中，养成宽容、尊重、公正和坦诚的精神。和以往的学生相比，你们这一届的学生有着更多的出国 交流的机会，统计显示有15.0%的学生先后参加过出国出境的交流项目。我们将尽学校最大的力量让学生有更多海外交流的机会。

复旦的通识教育，应该充分展现学术的魅力。通识教育的课程不是根据知识的类别来设置的，它关注的是当代社会与人类的发展问题。我们要求复旦的学生要“关 注人类命运，关注社会发展，关注百姓疾苦”，既然有这样的培养要求，那么我们的课程就要展现这些基本的问题，哪些是涉及人类命运的根本问题，环境、资源、 文化的保存等等；社会发展的趋势和可能性，科学技术、文明冲突、组织形态等等；还有现实的问题、百姓的诉求和我们能够提供的帮助等等。很难想象，这些课程 背后没有专业思维的支撑，没有我们最新的科研成果、学术见解的支持。通识教育有责任让我们的学生通过最基本的基础理论和基本知识的训练，赋予大脑逻辑、推 理、论证等复杂的能力，理解不同学术专业思维的不同，不同的复杂程度，不同的潜力，不同的想象力和创造力。

有一个调查 显示，我们09届的毕业生，有近90%的人感到为了理想而奋斗是快乐而有价值的。我想，这种快乐不仅在于我们能够怀着理想走上社会，更有赖于我们在大学四年所作的知识的准备，学术的训练，独立判断和创造的能力。我知道，因为全球经济不景气，毕业班的学生感受到了就业 的巨大压力，也再一次感受到了理想和现实之间的距离，感受到了抉择的痛苦。很不幸，这一抉择必须你自己来作出。父母 、 同学和师长，都不能替代你去判断，去决断。今天，在这么一个炎热的天气里，我穿着这身华丽的袍子，站在这里冒充“无所不知的校长”，也不能代替你们抉择。 我只能告诉大家，如果没有理想，生活的一切都会是苦的。我年轻的时候下乡六年，在农村做过五年赤脚医生，过得苦而快乐，因为我有理想。理想主义就是我们深 藏于心灵深处的精神源泉，它不断地支持我们在现实世界里生活，在受到俗事纷扰的时候，回到自己的心灵世界，滋养生息，重新出发。

最后，请允许我引用毕业墙上的文字来作为结束：毕业万岁，青春万岁，梦想万岁，友谊万岁！我自己再加一句，复旦万岁！