留學(xué)開(kāi)學(xué)第一課 耶魯大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)最新開(kāi)學(xué)演講：希望你們求知若渴！

幾天前，耶魯大學(xué)迎來(lái)了2018-2019學(xué)年的開(kāi)學(xué)典禮，校長(zhǎng) Peter Salovey 為新入學(xué)的學(xué)子帶來(lái)了精彩的演講，下面就讓我們一起來(lái)回顧一下演講全文。

早上好！我謹(jǐn)代表各位在座耶魯教職員工向出席典禮的學(xué)生家長(zhǎng)表示熱烈的歡迎。新生們，轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)生們，以及伊萊·惠特尼（Eli Whitney）項(xiàng)目的學(xué)生們，歡迎來(lái)到耶魯！

今天是盛大而激動(dòng)人心的一天。許多人懷揣著自豪和一些緊張，帶著家人來(lái)為自己慶祝這一里程碑的時(shí)刻。

今天也是耶魯大學(xué)的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日。你會(huì)在這里遇到無(wú)數(shù)新的和舊的奇妙儀式。許多儀式的歷史已經(jīng)頗為悠久，但仍深受耶魯人的歡迎與喜愛(ài)。

記住，現(xiàn)在你是一名耶魯人了！

耶魯大學(xué)的傳統(tǒng)之一，是唱一首名為“燦爛的大學(xué)時(shí)光（Bright College Years）”的老歌。

它寫(xiě)于19世紀(jì)末，是我們非官方的、但得到廣泛認(rèn)可的校歌。你會(huì)在許多校園活動(dòng)中聽(tīng)到它，經(jīng)常是由耶魯合唱團(tuán)和其他耶魯樂(lè)隊(duì)演唱，橄欖球比賽后由耶魯銅管儀仗樂(lè)隊(duì)演奏。

我是一名貝斯手，不是一名歌手。不過(guò)希望你們能允許我來(lái)幾句：這幾句詞是我在《燦爛的大學(xué)時(shí)光》中最喜歡的，而我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)也證明，它們描繪的是真實(shí)的情景。我想對(duì)于你們來(lái)說(shuō)也將如此。

但今天，我希望用這首歌的最后幾句歌詞引入我的演講，這幾句歌詞在校友會(huì)上很受歡迎，大家總是充滿激情地唱著，還揮舞著手帕：這首歌由耶魯大學(xué)1881屆學(xué)生亨利·杜蘭德（Henry Durand）創(chuàng)作，最后的幾句是用來(lái)作為戰(zhàn)斗口號(hào)的。

在那個(gè)年代，人們都像杜蘭德一樣，認(rèn)為大多數(shù)耶魯學(xué)生都來(lái)自同一個(gè)國(guó)家，信奉同一個(gè)上帝，直到最近幾十年，大多數(shù)耶魯人也都是白人、新教徒和美國(guó)人。當(dāng)然，50年前在耶魯大學(xué)，他們也都是男性。

今天，耶魯大學(xué)與杜蘭德當(dāng)時(shí)所認(rèn)識(shí)的學(xué)校已經(jīng)不同了。我們歡迎來(lái)自世界各地、各種背景和各行各業(yè)的人。

我也很自豪能從耶魯畢業(yè)，1986年，我在耶魯大學(xué)獲得了心理學(xué)博士學(xué)位。若是在一百年前，憑我的背景，被耶魯大學(xué)錄取的可能性可能很小，我是猶太人，來(lái)自東歐。

我的妻子瑪爾塔也是一名驕傲的耶魯大學(xué)畢業(yè)生，她于1984年獲得了公共衛(wèi)生碩士學(xué)位。她的家庭來(lái)自波多黎各，我們的故事并非個(gè)例，在過(guò)去的幾十年里，耶魯?shù)拇箝T(mén)越來(lái)越敞開(kāi)，我們擴(kuò)大了能讓人能找到歸屬感的圈子。

盡管我們擁有差異和多樣性，但至少有一個(gè)非常重要的共同點(diǎn)：我們共享耶魯?shù)囊磺?。無(wú)論你來(lái)自哪里，你是誰(shuí)，或者你是怎么來(lái)到這里的，現(xiàn)在撇去這些，你都是這個(gè)社區(qū)的一員。你屬于這里，你們是耶魯?shù)墓瘛?/span>

在我們的國(guó)家和當(dāng)今世界，關(guān)于公民身份和移民問(wèn)題的爭(zhēng)論非常激烈。但在耶魯，移民、國(guó)際學(xué)生和學(xué)者的重要性毋庸置疑。學(xué)校的教學(xué)和研究需要超越國(guó)界的人和思想進(jìn)行自由流動(dòng)，我謹(jǐn)代表耶魯，倡導(dǎo)歡迎世界各地的學(xué)生和學(xué)者來(lái)到我們的校園。

然而，我們的耶魯公民身份并非基于國(guó)籍。我們的學(xué)生來(lái)自121個(gè)國(guó)家。它也不是基于我們對(duì)某種信念或教條的堅(jiān)持，因?yàn)槲覀兘o這個(gè)校園帶來(lái)了廣泛的觀點(diǎn)和角度。

相反，我們是耶魯?shù)墓瘢且驗(yàn)槲覀兌伎释笾?、理解和?chuàng)造。我們同屬一個(gè)致力于Urim v’Thummim, lux et veritas——光明和真理的社群。

我們雖然職業(yè)不同，是詩(shī)人、心理學(xué)家、歷史學(xué)家、科學(xué)家、醫(yī)生和院長(zhǎng)，但我們都有一個(gè)共同的基本目標(biāo)，拓展已知世界的視野，提出撼動(dòng)現(xiàn)有知識(shí)基礎(chǔ)的問(wèn)題，用新的答案去重新構(gòu)建它們。

我們的世界迫切需要新的想法和解決方案，我們需要了解人類(lèi)和我們的星球，我們需要深入了解基因組，我們需要在戰(zhàn)勝疾病、減輕痛苦和伸張正義的能力方面取得突破，我們需要解決長(zhǎng)期存在的緊迫問(wèn)題。

你們將在耶魯完成這項(xiàng)重要的工作。你在這里的經(jīng)歷將塑造你的余生，并且你將擁有大多數(shù)人夢(mèng)寐以求的機(jī)遇。

因?yàn)橄碛幸敶髮W(xué)的教育格外難得，所以它伴隨著某些義務(wù)。今天我想談?wù)勔敼竦囊恍┳钪匾牧x務(wù)，我將描述其中四個(gè)：求知若渴，傾聽(tīng)他人，尊重文化，服務(wù)他人和世界。

1、求知若渴

第一項(xiàng)義務(wù)關(guān)系到我們的知識(shí)和學(xué)術(shù)工作。我們的校園必須是一個(gè)利于深入學(xué)習(xí)的地方，能激勵(lì)你一生的學(xué)習(xí)和性格的發(fā)展，能為你將來(lái)成為一名領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者而服務(wù)。

耶魯對(duì)你們的要求很高。有時(shí)你會(huì)不理解作業(yè)或者為問(wèn)題痛苦掙扎，你可能在期中考試中表現(xiàn)不佳，至少我希望如此！

因?yàn)檫@些失敗，和你的成功一樣，意味著你在做正確的事情。對(duì)自己好一點(diǎn)，記住你來(lái)耶魯是因?yàn)槟悴⒎菬o(wú)所不知，至少現(xiàn)在如此。

作為老師和導(dǎo)師，全體教員將與你們并肩作戰(zhàn)，這是我在耶魯任教的第三十三年，我很清楚與學(xué)生合作是這個(gè)職業(yè)最大的樂(lè)趣之一。

在辦公時(shí)間去找你的老師，了解你的教授，他們會(huì)幫助你加深和擴(kuò)展你的專(zhuān)業(yè)知識(shí)。

最重要的是，讓你的好奇心插上翅膀，帶你到意想不到的方向，帶你到新的學(xué)習(xí)、實(shí)踐和探索的領(lǐng)域。

我在大學(xué)時(shí)念了我并不打算上的課程。但四十年后，他們改變了我看世界的方式：戲劇風(fēng)格演變史、詩(shī)歌寫(xiě)作、關(guān)于現(xiàn)實(shí)世界的(應(yīng)用)社會(huì)學(xué)課、包括了有趣田野調(diào)查的地質(zhì)學(xué)課。請(qǐng)確保你自己能在這里探索到豐富多樣的學(xué)術(shù)經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

2、傾聽(tīng)他人

第二，作為耶魯?shù)墓瘢覀冇辛x務(wù)認(rèn)真傾聽(tīng)他人。

有時(shí)，這意味著我們必須傾聽(tīng)那些我們覺(jué)得討厭的想法，你不必同意這些看法，但我們每個(gè)人都享有表達(dá)自己想法和觀點(diǎn)的機(jī)會(huì)。

我們?cè)谛@里努力維護(hù)這一權(quán)利。我希望你們?cè)谶@里有機(jī)會(huì)深入思考，誠(chéng)實(shí)勇敢地談?wù)撾y題。

討論是學(xué)術(shù)事業(yè)的核心。所以，無(wú)論是在教室、餐廳還是在運(yùn)動(dòng)場(chǎng)，找個(gè)時(shí)間和地點(diǎn)進(jìn)行交談吧。

有很多阻礙你進(jìn)行有益的對(duì)話的東西，譬如說(shuō)科技。我不會(huì)試圖說(shuō)服你完全停止發(fā)短信或發(fā)推特。但我建議你盡可能放下手機(jī)，尋找面對(duì)面交流的機(jī)會(huì)。

當(dāng)我們這樣做的時(shí)候，我們會(huì)更快樂(lè)，我們的關(guān)系也會(huì)更牢固。（問(wèn)問(wèn)去年修過(guò)勞里·桑托斯（Laurie Santos）教授的《心理學(xué)與美好生活》的人就知道了！）

在耶魯，你會(huì)遇到才華出眾、前途無(wú)量、為人正直的人。在未來(lái)的日子里，我希望你們能找到各種各樣的朋友和同伴。

就像我對(duì)去年的畢業(yè)生說(shuō)的那樣，給自己建立一個(gè)有著長(zhǎng)相、談吐、行為或想法可能與你不同的人的交際圈。

例如向?qū)W校的員工介紹自己，了解你在紐黑文的鄰居。你的表達(dá)能力、傾聽(tīng)能力，你突破舒適區(qū)域的能力，將會(huì)是衡量你在耶魯學(xué)習(xí)期間的重要標(biāo)準(zhǔn)之一。

3、尊重文化

第三，作為耶魯?shù)墓瘢覀兣υ谛@里支持建設(shè)一個(gè)相互尊重彼此文化的氛圍。為此，我們必須給予每個(gè)人應(yīng)有的尊嚴(yán)和認(rèn)可。

克勞迪婭·蘭金（Claudia Rankine）是耶魯大學(xué)弗雷德里克·伊斯曼詩(shī)歌教授。在她充滿力量的作品《公民：一個(gè)美國(guó)人的抒情詩(shī)》中，她通過(guò)描寫(xiě)一些看似平凡無(wú)奇的情景，探討了公民身份和歸屬感在當(dāng)代美國(guó)的意義，我想給你們讀一段話:

“在雜貨店排隊(duì)時(shí)，終于輪到你了，然而他突然走到你前面，把東西放在柜臺(tái)上。收銀員說(shuō)，先生，她才是下一個(gè)。當(dāng)他轉(zhuǎn)向你時(shí)，他真的很驚訝。

哦，我的上帝，我沒(méi)有看到你。

你一定是太匆忙了吧，你說(shuō)。

不，不，不，我真的沒(méi)有看到你。”

我們看到誰(shuí)，又沒(méi)看到誰(shuí)？在我們的宿舍和教室里，在餐館里，在假期和工作中，在我們的國(guó)家和世界里，我們看到了誰(shuí)，我們又忽視了誰(shuí)？

你在耶魯?shù)纳顚⑹敲β刀鋵?shí)的。你需要學(xué)習(xí)、工作、做志愿者、參加社交活動(dòng)，以及我非常希望有時(shí)你們能睡會(huì)兒。

但是同時(shí)請(qǐng)確保自己一定要花時(shí)間去看看周?chē)娜?，試著用他們的眼睛去想象世界，為你所做的一切帶去一份同理心和想象力?/span>

我期望你們每個(gè)人共同努力，可以確保耶魯是一個(gè)每個(gè)人都感到受到重視和歡迎的社區(qū)。

4、服務(wù)他人與世界

最后，希望你們將作為耶魯公民的義務(wù)延伸到校園之外。我們的校友也許是發(fā)揮耶魯服務(wù)于人的傳統(tǒng)的最好例證。

耶魯有5名畢業(yè)生曾擔(dān)任過(guò)美國(guó)總統(tǒng)，4名擔(dān)任過(guò)國(guó)務(wù)卿，18名擔(dān)任過(guò)美國(guó)最高法院大法官，代表不同政治派別的觀點(diǎn)，耶魯校友曾擔(dān)任過(guò)幾個(gè)國(guó)家的國(guó)家元首，包括意大利、墨西哥、馬拉維和韓國(guó)。

許多人作為教師，慈善家和導(dǎo)師，已經(jīng)改善了他們的社區(qū)和城市。還有一些人建立了自己的企業(yè)，為社會(huì)提供工作崗位。幾代人以來(lái)，我們的學(xué)生和校友為共同的利益做出了貢獻(xiàn)。我敦促你們繼承耶魯?shù)倪@一重要傳統(tǒng)。

“為主，為國(guó)，也為耶魯”這仍是《燦爛的大學(xué)時(shí)光》的承諾，我和其他人一樣喜歡唱這幾句。即使我們信仰不同甚至無(wú)信仰，即使我們是不同國(guó)家的公民或無(wú)國(guó)界人士，我們都共享耶魯?shù)囊磺小?/span>

作為這個(gè)社區(qū)的一員，我們?yōu)樽约旱?ldquo;權(quán)利和責(zé)任”感到自豪。作為對(duì)耶魯大學(xué)精英教育的回報(bào)，放眼校園之外，我們追求一個(gè)更大的目標(biāo)，那便是“為世界的今天和下一代做出貢獻(xiàn)”。這也是我們的共同之處。

我相信，我們的耶魯公民身份在今天和317年前耶魯大學(xué)成立時(shí)一樣重要。世界一如既往地需要光明和真理，它需要你的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和服務(wù)，它需要你帶給世界的意義和你提出的疑惑，最重要的是，它需要你付出最大的努力，你的成功和失敗。

作為耶魯大學(xué)的公民，我們有著共同的目標(biāo)，追求知識(shí)和理解，讓我們從今天開(kāi)始，開(kāi)始我們來(lái)到這里的任務(wù):提出新的問(wèn)題，認(rèn)真傾聽(tīng)，誠(chéng)實(shí)傾訴，用新的眼光看待問(wèn)題，為我們的社區(qū)和世界做出貢獻(xiàn)。

最重要的是，今天離開(kāi)這個(gè)大廳的時(shí)候，心懷這樣一個(gè)承諾：做耶魯?shù)哪７豆瘢ㄔO(shè)我們希望看到的未來(lái)。

今天，當(dāng)我望向這間房間時(shí)，我對(duì)耶魯?shù)奈磥?lái)和我們這個(gè)世界的未來(lái)充滿樂(lè)觀。

2022屆，祝你們好運(yùn)！

演講稿原文：

Good morning! On behalf of my colleagues here on stage, I extend a warm welcome to all the family members with us today. And to the first-years, transfer students, and Eli Whitney students: Welcome to Yale!

Today is a day of pageantry and excitement. Many of you bring members of your extended families to cheer you on, celebrating this milestone with justifiable pride and just a little anxiety. 

Today is also a day of Yale traditions. You will encounter countless wonderful rituals here, some recent and some quite old. Many are steeped in history yet remain popular, even beloved, among Yalies. (And remember, you are now a Yalie!)

One of our Yale traditions is singing an old song, “Bright College Years.” Written in the late 19th century, it is our unofficial, but widely acknowledged, alma mater. You will hear it at many campus events, often sung by the Yale Glee Club and other Yale groups, and played by the Yale Precision Marching Band after football games.

Now, I am not a singer. I am a bluegrass bass player. But I hope you will indulge me for a moment:

The seasons come, the seasons go,

The earth is green or white with snow,

But time and change shall naught avail

To break the friendships formed at Yale.

These couplets are some of my favorites from “Bright College Years,” and, in my experience, they are truthful. I suspect they will prove accurate for you as well. But it is the song’s final lines, popular at alumni gatherings and always sung with gusto, complete with the waving of handkerchiefs, that I want to use to launch my topic for today:

Oh, let us strive that ever we 

May let these words our watch cry be, 

Where’er upon life’s sea we sail: 

“For God, for Country and for Yale!”

“For God, for Country, and for Yale:” A member of the Yale College Class of 1881 named Henry Durand wrote this ballad, and the final lines were meant to be a rallying cry. It made sense in those days to presume, as Durand did, that most Yale students shared, or at least professed to share, the same god and the same country. Most Yalies, until recent decades, were white, Protestant, and American. And of course, until fifty years ago in Yale College, they were all men.

Today, Yale is a different place from the college Durand knew. We welcome people from around the world, from every background and from every walk of life.

I am proud to be a Yale graduate. I received my Ph.D. in psychology from Yale in 1986. A hundred years earlier, I may have been less likely to have been admitted to Yale on account of my background; I am Jewish, with roots in Eastern Europe. My wife Marta, another proud Yale graduate, received her master’s degree in public health in 1984; her family is from Puerto Rico. Our stories are not unique. Over the past decades, Yale has opened its doors wider and wider. We have expanded the circle of belonging.

Yet despite our differences and diversity, we have at least one very important thing in common: we all share Yale. No matter where you are from, or who you are, or your path to arriving here, now you are—among other things—a member of this community. You belong here. You are citizens of Yale.

In our country and our world today, questions about citizenship and immigration are hotly contested. But at Yale, we share none of this uncertainty about the critical importance of immigrant and international students and scholars. The work of the university—education and research—requires the free movement of people and ideas across national borders. On behalf of this university, I advocate for policies that will allow us to welcome students and scholars from around the world to our campus.

Our Yale citizenship, however, is not based on national origin. Our students hail from 121 countries. Nor is it based on our adherence to a certain set of beliefs or dogma, as we bring an enormous range of viewpoints and perspectives to this campus. Instead, we are citizens of Yale because we share a desire to know, understand, and create. We are members of an academic community dedicated to Urim v’Thummim, lux et veritas, light and truth.

We are poets and psychologists, historians and scientists, physicians and deans, and yet we all share the same fundamental goal: to expand the horizons of the known world. To ask questions that shake the foundations of knowledge and to rebuild them again with new answers.

Our world is desperate for new ideas and solutions. We need to understand the human condition and our planet. We need insights into the genome. We need breakthroughs in our ability to fight disease, alleviate suffering, and find justice. We need answers to urgent and long-standing questions.

You will tackle this important work at Yale. The experiences you have here will shape the rest of your lives, and you will have opportunities that most people only dream of.

And because a Yale education is a great privilege, it comes with certain obligations. I want to speak today about some of the most important obligations of Yale citizenship. I will delineate four of them:

The responsibility to be curious, constantly;

The duty to listen to others, even those whose thoughts you despise, and to exchange ideas freely;

The obligation to create a culture of respect here;

And the requirement to use the gifts you have been provided to serve others and the world.  

So, the first obligation concerns our intellectual and scholarly work. Our campus must be a place conducive to deep study that will motivate both a lifetime of learning and the development of character that will serve you well as future leaders.

Yale will demand much of you. There will be times when you don’t understand an assignment or struggle with a problem set. You may do poorly on a midterm. At least I hope so! Those failures—as much as your successes—mean you are doing something right. Be kind to yourself, and remember that you have come to Yale because you don’t know everything—not yet.

The faculty will be alongside you, as teachers and mentors. This is my thirty-third year on Yale’s faculty, and I know that working with students is one of the great joys of this profession. Go to office hours. Get to know your professors, and they will help you deepen and expand your expertise. Most of all, allow your curiosity to take wing—to take you in unexpected directions and lead you to new areas of study, practice, and discovery.

I enrolled in courses in college that I hadn’t planned to take, and they changed the way I see the world now, forty years later: a course in the history of theater styles, a course in writing poetry, a course in real-world (applied) sociology, a course in geology that involved fascinating fieldwork.  Make sure you explore the great range and diversity of academic experiences available to you here.

Second, as citizens of Yale, we are obligated to listen carefully to others. Sometimes this means we must listen to ideas we find objectionable. You don’t have to agree, but each of us must enjoy the opportunity to express thoughts and opinions. We work hard to safeguard this right on our campus. I hope you will have many opportunities to think deeply and speak honestly and courageously about difficult issues during your time here.

Discourse is the heart of the academic enterprise. So, find times and places for conversation, whether in a classroom, dining hall, or on the athletic field.

There are many impediments to meaningful conversation, including technology. I am not going to try to persuade you to stop texting or tweeting altogether. But I would urge you to put down your phones whenever possible, and seek out face-to-face interactions. We are happier and our relationships are stronger when we do. (Just ask anyone who took “Psychology and the Good Life” with Professor Laurie Santos last year!)

You will meet people of remarkable talent, promise, and integrity here at Yale. In the days and weeks ahead, I would urge you to seek out a wide variety of friends and associates. As I said to last year’s graduating class, draw a larger circle to include people who might look, talk, act, or think differently from you. Introduce yourself to staff members; get to know your neighbors in the city of New Haven. Your ability to speak but also listen, to reach beyond what is familiar and easy, will be one of the great measures of your time here at Yale.

Third, as citizens of Yale we strive to support a culture of mutual respect on our campus. To do this we must accord each person the dignity and recognition they deserve.

Claudia Rankine is the Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale. In her powerful work, Citizen: An American Lyric, she explores what citizenship and belonging mean in contemporary America, often by describing mundane situations. I would like to read you a passage:

“In line at the drugstore it’s finally your turn, and then it’s

not as he walks in front of you and puts his things on the

counter. The cashier says, Sir, she was next. When he

turns to you he is truly surprised.

Oh my God, I didn’t see you.

You must be in a hurry, you offer.

No, no, no, I really didn’t see you.”

Who do we see—or not see? In our residential colleges and classrooms, in restaurants, on vacation and at work, in our country and in our world? Who do we see, and who do we look past? 

Your lives at Yale will be busy and full. You will study, work, volunteer, socialize, and—I dearly hope—sometimes sleep. But make sure you take time to see the people around you. Try to imagine the world through their eyes; bring empathy and imagination to all that you do. I am counting on each of you. Together we can ensure that Yale is a community where each person feels valued and welcomed.

Finally, your obligations as citizens of Yale extend beyond this campus. Our alumni are perhaps the greatest illustration of Yale’s tradition of service. Five Yale graduates have served as U.S. presidents, four as secretaries of state, and eighteen as justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, representing viewpoints across the political spectrum. Yale alumni have served as heads of state of several foreign countries, including Italy, Mexico, Malawi, and South Korea. Many others have improved their neighborhoods and cities as teachers, philanthropists, and mentors. Still others have built businesses that created jobs. For generations, our students and alumni have contributed to the common good. I urge you to carry on this vital Yale tradition.

“For God, for Country, and for Yale:” This is still the promise of “Bright College Years”—and I enjoy singing those words as much as anyone—that even if we worship differently or not at all, even if we are citizens of different nations or people without a country, we all share Yale. We take pride in our “rights and responsibilities” as members of this community. In return for the great privilege of a Yale education, we look beyond this campus to pursue a larger purpose, to “improve the world today and for future generations.”5 This is what we share in common.

I am convinced that our Yale citizenship is just as vital today as it was 317 years ago when this college was founded. The world needs light and truth as much as ever. It needs your leadership and your service. It needs the meaning you bring to the world and the questions you ask. Most of all, it needs your best efforts—your successes and your failures.

As citizens of Yale sharing a common purpose—the pursuit of knowledge and understanding—let us start today to begin the work we have come here to do: to ask new questions, to listen carefully and speak honestly, to see with new eyes, and to contribute to our communities and our world. Most of all, leave this hall today with a commitment in your hearts to be exemplary citizens of Yale, building the future we hope to see.

Today, as I look out onto this room, I am optimistic about the future of Yale and the future of our world.

Good luck, Class of 2022!

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