哈佛校长2022年开学演讲：*不会因哈佛毕业生的身份而善待你！

2022-09-02 15:11:43 来源：网络 作者：朗阁小编

8月30日，哈佛大学举办开学典礼欢迎2026届新生到校，哈佛校长劳伦斯·巴科(Lawrence Bacow)在开学典礼中致辞，以下是致辞内容：下午好，2026届同学们。非常荣幸能够在欢迎大家正式加入哈佛社区的活动中致辞。53年前的这个时候，我告别了远在密歇根州的亲朋好友来到麻省剑桥上大学。但不是到哈佛大学，而是隔壁的麻省理工学院。

8月30日，哈佛大学举办开学典礼欢迎2026届新生到校，哈佛校长劳伦斯·巴科(Lawrence Bacow)在开学典礼中致辞，以下是致辞内容：

下午好，2026届同学们。非常荣幸能够在欢迎大家正式加入哈佛社区的活动中致辞。

53年前的这个时候，我告别了远在密歇根州的亲朋好友来到麻省剑桥上大学。但不是到哈佛大学，而是隔壁的麻省理工学院。

这一切仿佛就在昨天。

我非常肯定的是你们将对开学头几个星期的经历终生难忘。你们会记得自己偶遇的同学、结识的好友、上的*堂课、在食堂吃到的*个汉堡、所有的一切!

令我印象*深刻的是大一室友艾伦(Alan)，一个来自新泽西州的长曲棍球球员。他身材高大，而我个子矮小。他不拘小节，而我井井有条。他把音响带到宿舍，喜欢一边听音乐一边学习;而我喜欢在安静环境里学习。他喜欢听摇滚音乐，而我钟爱乡村歌曲。他痴迷所有的纽约运动队，而我很讨厌他们。在政治上他相当*守，而我恰恰相反。

我开始觉得我们永远都合不来。不过，就像你们猜到的那样——我的想法大错特错!在那个貌似生硬、吵闹和固执的外表下，事实*艾伦是我大学期间遇到的*善良和*有意思的同学之一。他博览群书、妙手成章，而且花费大量时间辅导我学习大一物理、化学和微积分课程。尽管我们在政治方面各执己见，但他欢迎富有建设性的辩论，我们俩经常争论不休。

他成为我的挚友。我们继续住在一起，持续到研究生阶段。在我入读哈佛大学法学院的*天，他安排我认识了他女朋友的室友。这位相亲对象今天就坐在这里。请允许我向大家介绍我结婚47年的妻子——阿黛尔!艾伦和阿黛尔的室友黛比的婚礼在我们成婚前的一周举行。蜜月期间他们俩还出席了我们的婚礼。

今天，在我们认识53年后，艾伦和黛比依然是我们*好的朋友。今年夏天，他们在我家住了三天。我们共同度过人生的重要阶段——我们各自*的出生、打造事业和家庭、生活的快乐和失望、每一次成功的快乐和失败的悲伤。

政治方面我们依然鲜有共识，但我们心平气和地进行讨论(有时候甚至是激烈的辩论)，*后往往只能搁置争端。但我们总是互相尊重，并且经常互相学习。经过53年后，我们对此习以为常。

在哈佛期间，请不要对你的艾伦视而不见。请不要根据外在表现或*印象*评判他人。哈佛招收来自*各地志趣各异的学生的原因之一，在于我们可以学习各自的不同之处。在认识室友和同学时，请尽量延缓评判而加快理解。至少在开始阶段，不要因为表面印象而把别人一棍子打死——不但在哈佛，而且贯穿整个人生。如果做到这一点，你结交的朋友将多得出乎预料，他们或许与你迥然不同，但将极大地丰富你的人生。

如果像多数哈佛学生那样，在接下来几天内你收获的友谊将持续终生。部分同学甚至可能在这里遇到自己的配偶或生活伴侣。我参加过很多哈佛毕业聚会，因此深知此言非虚。我也无数次听到同样有关始于大学初期并延续终身友情的故事。你们*好的朋友，那些深度参与你们人生的人物，此时此刻就坐在你们身边。你所要做的就是找到他们!

我无法否认，你们在哈佛可能遇见不喜欢的人。

哈佛是现实生活的一个缩影，因此社会中令人反感的所有一切在某种程度上都存在于哈佛校园。我们绝非完美无瑕，但我们努力变得更好。虽然我们尽力将哈佛打造成一个关怀备至、善解人意和宾至如归的社区，但你们依然难免遭遇各种不愉快的经历。

我们的工作在于让你们为毕业后进入社会做好充分准备。这个*不会因为哈佛毕业生的身份而善待你们。如果处处顾及你们的情绪而非*各位的情商，对你们没有任何好处。在这里，我们让大家做好充分准备应对一个挑战(有时甚至是冒犯)你们的*。我们希望你们能够在哈佛掌握这些技能，从而终其一生致力于改善这个绝非完美的*。

通过与部分同学的交流，我得知你们希望改变*。这个想法非常棒，这也是我们邀请你们入学的原因之一。不过，如果想要改变*，你们需要掌握说服别人改变想法的艺术。我向你们*证，如果各位固执己见，那么很难让别人从善如流。

哈佛的校训是“真理(veritas)”，但这已经超越校训，成为本校存续的理由——寻求真理。但是，真理需要经过不断地检验和挖掘。只有通过不同想法的充分碰撞才能让这个过程成为现实。因此，与那些想法别出心裁者进行互动确实至关重要。

更重要的是，你得心甘情愿地改变自己的想法——信服于更有力的论点和全新的信息。只有通过这样的经历，你才能具备更强大的能力来改变*。这是我希望你们在哈佛期间掌握的另一项技能。

在入校那天，阿黛拉(校长夫人)和我一起会见了很多新生家庭。我们见证了无数次真情流露的告别。自从出生以来，你们中多数人一直是热爱你们的家人的关注焦点。随着你们的离去，对于空巢的家人意味着沉重的寂寞。你们周围有很多人(*导师、同窗好友、宿管人员、住校教师和院长等)帮助大家顺利过渡到大学阶段。但你们的家人只有依靠自己走出来。他们同样经历着巨大的转折，只有你们才能帮助他们度过难关。恳请各位同学经常给父母打个电话(而不仅是发发短信)，通过电话关心他们过得如何。我向你们*证他们接到电话会非常高兴。

2026届同学们，我们对你们寄予厚望。我希望哈佛能够满足你们一切梦想——无论是*、社交还是个人期待。我谨期待游有幸出席你们毕业五十周年聚会，倾听你们人生的精彩华章，以及其中哈佛所起到的作用!

祝愿在座每一位同学好运连连，心想事成。

英文原文：

Good afternoon, Class of 2026. It is an honor to add my voice to the chorus welcoming you officially as members of the Harvard community.

Fifty-three years ago this week, I said goodbye to my friends and family in Pontiac, Michigan and arrived here in Cambridge, Massachusetts for my first year of college. Not here, exactly, but just down the street at MIT.

It seems like yesterday.

I can tell you with complete confidence that memories of your first few weeks on this campus will remain vivid throughout your lifetime. You will recall who you met, who you befriended, your very first class, your very first burger at Bartley’s—everything.

Among my most vivid memories is my freshman roommate. His name was Alan.  He was a lacrosse player from New Jersey.  He was big.  I was small.  He was messy.  I was neat.  He brought his stereo to campus and liked to study with it on.  I liked to study with it off.  He liked to listen to the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Band.  I liked Bob Dylan, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. He liked almost all New York sports teams.  I hated them.  He was politically quite conservative.  I was anything but.

“This will never work out,” I thought.  So—you can probably tell where this story is going—I could not have been more wrong.  Alan, beneath a seemingly crusty, loud, opinionated exterior, proved to be one of the kindest, most interesting people I met during my time in college.  He was incredibly well read, a terrific writer, and very generous with his time, patiently helping me navigate through freshman physics, calculus, and chemistry. While we differed on almost everything related to politics, he loved a good argument, and we had many.  He became one of my closest friends, and we continued to live together, even as graduate students.  On my first day at Harvard Law School, he fixed me up on a blind date with his girlfriend’s roommate.  That blind date is here today.  Let me introduce you to her, my wife of 47 years, Adele.  And Alan wound up marrying Adele’s roommate, Debby, one week before Adele and I got married.  The two of them came to our wedding on their honeymoon.

Today, 53 years after we met, Alan and Debby remain two of our closest friends.  This summer, they spent three days with us at our home.  We have been through all of life’s passages together—the birth of our children and their children—the work of building careers and families—the joys and disappointments of life—the sweetness of every milestone and the sorrow of every loss.

We still agree about very little when it comes to politics, but we have civil conversations—even debates from time to time—and usually end up agreeing to disagree.  But we always respect each other, and we often learn from each other. And, after 53 years, we love them like family.

During your time here, please don’t overlook your Alan.  Please don’t judge people quickly based on their outward appearances or your first impressions.  One of the many reasons we admitted students from around the world, people with every interest imaginable, is because we learn from our differences.  As you get to know your roommates and your classmates, try to be slow to judge and quick to understand.  Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, at least initially, not just at Harvard but throughout life and you will be surprised by the number of friends you will acquire, people quite different from you, but people who will enrich your life immensely.

If you are like most Harvard students, the friendships you make in the next few days will stay with you forever.  A few of you are even likely to meet your spouse or life partner here.  I know this statement to be true because I attend a lot of Harvard reunions.  I hear the same stories over and over about lifelong relationships that started during the first few days of school.  Your best friends, people with whom you will share your life together, are sitting among you.  Your job is to find them.

Let me also acknowledge that you may meet people at Harvard that you do not like.  Harvard is a microcosm of the larger world, and everything that you may find objectionable in the larger world is present in some measure here.  We are not perfect, but we strive to be better.  While trying to be a caring, understanding, and welcoming community, we cannot protect you from everything that is unpleasant.  Our job is to prepare you for the world you will inhabit when you graduate.  And that world is not going to treat you with kid gloves simply because you have a Harvard degree.  We would not be doing you a favor if we placed you in an emotional bubble and did not let your emotional immune systems develop.  We are here to prepare you to deal with a world that will challenge you—and sometimes even offend you.  I hope you will master these skills while you are at Harvard so you can devote your life to repairing a world that we all know is far from perfect.

I know from conversations that I have already had with some of you that you want to change the world.  Good for you.  That is one of the reasons we admitted you.  But if you want to change the world, you need to master the art of persuading people to change their minds.  And I guarantee that you will not be effective at doing so unless you first have the experience of changing your own.

Our motto at Harvard is Veritas.  It is more than a motto.  It is the reason we exist, to seek the truth.  Over time, truth is revealed, it needs to be tested on the anvil of competing ideas.  If you really seek the truth, you must engage with those who think differently than you.  Even more importantly, you must be willing to change your mind – to be persuaded by a better argument or new information.  Only when you have this experience will you be well equipped to make a difference in the world.  This is another skill I hope you will master at Harvard.

On move in day, Adele and I met many of your families.  We witnessed more than one emotional goodbye.  Most of you have been at the center of your loved one’s lives since the day you entered their world.  Now you are gone, and, for many left behind, the silence is deafening.  You have many people to help you make your transition to college—academic advisors, peer advisors, residential advisors, proctors, deans—you name it.  But your loved ones are on their own.  They are also going through a big adjustment, and it is up to you to help them through it.  Please give them a call from time to time, not a text – a call, and ask them how they are doing.  I guarantee you they will appreciate it.

Class of 2026. we have great expectations for you.  I hope that Harvard is everything you dreamed it will be—intellectually, socially and personally. I only wish I could be there at your 50th reunion so you could tell me how your life turned out and the role that Harvard played in it.

Best of luck to each of you, and Godspeed.