Matriculation Address 2005

Lawrence S. Bacow, President
Tufts University
August 31, 2005

Ladies and gentlemen, members of the faculty, staff and administration, the Board of Trustees represented here today by Bernard Harleston, but most importantly, to members of the Class of 2009, welcome to Tufts! The long college admissions ordeal is finally over. No more questions about where you are applying to school. No more dreadful college admissions essays. No more college tours. No more hand wringing about what to bring or whether all of your stuff is actually going to fit into whatever vehicle brought you here. You have finally arrived. High school is now officially over. Your college life has officially begun. Welcome Jumbos, and congratulations!

As we sit here today under these threatening skies, let us not forget those students and their families at colleges and universities on the Gulf Coast who expected to be also sharing in the joys of the start of college life. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and others who have suffered as a result of hurricane Katrina. We are also looking for ways that Tufts can directly help with their plight.

The last few days have probably not been easy for either you or your family members. I am certain that there have been many conversations, some mundane and some quite serious. You have shared poignant goodbyes with classmates, old friends, and extended family. Your loved ones have probably cautioned you to study hard, behave responsibly, and to avoid the temptations that will come your way now that you are living on your own. This is all good advice, and you should heed it wisely. Some of you may even have extracted promises from parents not to embarrass you later today with emotional goodbyes. Well, to the parents assembled, I grant you special presidential release from all such commitments. My wife, Adele, and I know from personal experience that it is not easy sending a child off to college. It is an emotional time, a difficult time for all. When the time comes later today to say goodbye, give your children a big hug, hold them tight, and cry if you want. I guarantee, no one will notice because they will all be doing the same.

Class of 2009, you have not come to just any university. Tufts has a rich tradition and history, one that continues to influence how and what we teach, and what we expect of our students, our graduates, and ourselves.

Tufts was founded in 1852 by the Universalists. At the time, most colleges belonged to some degree to a particular faith, having usually been founded by a particular denomination to educate their young people. Even those colleges that accepted students from outside their faith typically required faculty and trustees to belong to the institution's founding church. Tufts was different. Not only did our founders object to this policy at other institutions, they also stipulated that there would never be a religious test for employment or admissions at Tufts, a radical notion at the time.

Writing in the leading Universalist paper of the day, a church elder said, "We go for universal education of the people - the poor and the rich - the farmer and the mechanic and the seaman, as well as the lawyer, the physician, and the clergyman. Let all the people be educated. The universal diffusion of knowledge is the only safeguard of our republican institutions."

These principles still guide us. We continue to embrace diversity in every possible dimension. We still believe that education and the generation of new knowledge are fundamental to a free and just society. And we believe that with education comes responsibility - responsibility to make the world a better place. At Tufts, we embrace active citizenship as one of our core values. We expect each of you to get involved, to work for the benefit of others - not just here and not just now, but throughout your lives.

Class of 2009, you are entering college at an extraordinarily interesting point in time. In the relatively brief period since your parents and I graduated from high school, our society has sequenced the human genome, developed the capacity to clone complex organisms, and invented personal computers, cell phones, GPS, the World Wide Web, email and instant messaging. The Iron Curtain has fallen, apartheid no longer exists, and much of Europe has adopted a common currency. Not all progress has been positive. Oil has risen in price from $2 a barrel to more than $70 at yesterday's close, healthcare costs now consume 15% of GDP in this country, AIDS is threatening much of Africa, and much of the world is gripped by a growing conflict between modernity and fundamentalism.

What will the future bring? What scientific and technological advances await us? How will society be shaped by social and economic movements yet to occur? I do not know. However, I do know that you have the capacity to help shape and define this future. Like those who have preceded you on this Hill, you will go forward with your Tufts education to make a difference.

Over the next four years, you will spend a lot of time with your professors. Get to know them well. If there is one universal predictor of whether you will have a great experience in college, it is whether you get to know at least one faculty member well enough so that you stay in touch with him or her for the rest of your life. We try to make this very easy for you. Later this evening you will have dinner with your academic advisor. Seek your advisors out regularly. They are there to help you with far more than your registration. Interested in a particular field? The Summer Scholars Program will pay you to work with faculty over the summer on research. Want just to chat a bit after class with one of your professors? If you go into the library's Tower Caf? with a faculty member, and anything you order to drink is on the house. Not a bad deal.

If you take the time to talk to a faculty member, you will learn that faculty are passionate about teaching, their research, and about Tufts. Don't be bashful. If you don't know what to talk about, just ask what they are working on. Be prepared for a very animated description of research that may range from understanding why fireflies light up at night to why children acquire language but other primates don't. If you are engaged by what you hear, ask how you might learn more. Most faculty are all too happy to have a talented undergraduate work with them on their research. In the process, you will learn something about how research is done and will experience for yourself the joys of discovery. You may also make a friend for life.

Oscar Wilde once said that nothing worth knowing can be taught. There is at least some truth to this statement, although as a university president I cannot subscribe to it completely. Your learning over the next four years will extend well beyond the formal classroom. Coaches, advisors to student activities, deans, counselors, RAs and others all have much to contribute to your education. In fact, some of the most valuable skills I learned in college - skills that I use daily - things like leadership, teamwork, preparation, and perseverance, I learned by playing a varsity sport. Be a sponge. Soak up all there is to be learned at Tufts, from faculty, staff, and your fellow students.

No doubt, some of you are entering Tufts with well formed ideas of what you want to study or even what career you wish to pursue. My advice is to keep an open mind. Don't cling too fiercely to preconceived notions about what the future holds for you. If you do, you may overlook fields and opportunities that you never imagined. I entered college absolutely convinced that I would be a lawyer like my father. A conversation with a professor after class changed my life. I discovered economics and ultimately decided to pursue an academic career. I have never regretted it.

Whatever you do here, find your passion and have the courage to pursue it. Sample broadly from all that Tufts has to offer. Our curriculum offers you the freedom to explore. Do so with vigor. You have plenty of time to plan your career. While at Tufts, you should develop your intellect. As John Dewey once said, "Education is not preparation for life. It is life itself."

Great universities like Tufts encourage open and free expression of ideas. We do not embrace orthodoxy of thought either from the left or the right. Occasionally, passions will run high as people debate the issues of the moment. You may even find people expressing ideas that make you uncomfortable or that you find offensive. Tufts is not a precious place, devoid of controversy. Moreover, our job is not to create a cocoon that insulates you from the real world. Your responsibility as a citizen of Tufts is to treat everyone with civility and respect, especially those who think differently from you.

You are fortunate to be attending college in one of the truly great cities of the world. Get to know Boston. It is a city rich with history and known for its vibrant, ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Visit the Museum of Fine Arts - Tufts students receive free admission. Go to a concert at Symphony Hall. Take in the Gardner Museum, the Public Gardens, Boston Common and the Freedom Trail. Of course, no education is complete without a visit to one of Boston's greatest cultural shrines. I speak of Fenway Park, home of the World Champion Boston Red Sox. Even Yankees fans are welcome.

History can also be found a stone's throw from campus. Somerville is home to the first flag raised by the American colonies in 1776 on Prospect Hill. Go down to Powderhouse Circle and see where it gets its name - from the colonial building used to store gunpowder during the American Revolution. Medford is the fourth oldest English settlement in the US. Founded in 1630, clipper ships were built on the Mystic River just off of South Street. Around the corner from campus you can visit Royall House where slaves were once quartered.

The American Revolution started just seven miles up Massachusetts Avenue in Lexington and neighboring Concord on April 19, 1775, also the day of Paul Revere's famous ride. His route passed a few blocks from here. The start of the Revolution is still celebrated in Boston as Patriot's Day. In addition to commemorating the opening battle on Lexington Green, Patriot's Day also coincides with the world's largest block party. I speak, of course, of the Boston Marathon. Literally one million people turn out to cheer on more than 20,000 runners as they make their way along the 26 mile, 385 yard route from Hopkinton to Boston. Each year, Tufts sponsors the largest collegiate team in the race - 200 students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends as part of the President's Marathon Challenge. I lead the team, and if my 54 year old knees hold out, I plan to run the race again this year. If any of you are interested in running Boston with me, start training now, and if you just want to go for a run with the president, join me on one of my 6 a.m. runs. Send me an email and we can figure out a time that works for both of us. This offer, by the way, extends to visiting parents as well.

One tradition that we honor at Tufts is that each generation helps the next. You have already seen this at work as upperclass students have helped you unpack and get settled in your rooms. You will soon meet your peer advisors, fellow students who have come back to school early so they can help your faculty advisor with the advising process. In the future, you will have the opportunity to continue this tradition, and I hope you will do so selflessly and willingly as others have done before you.

As you sit on this Hill today, you have already benefited from the collective efforts of the 82,000 Tufts alumni represented today by Ann Palmieri, President of the Alumni Association. They have interviewed you, supported scholarships that underwrite your education, and they have literally helped to build this university. In the future, they will help you with career advice, internships, and contacts. Wherever you go in the world, you will find fellow Jumbos ready to help.

Class of 2009, in a few hours you will say goodbye to your friends and family. You are going to be on your own - with lots of support, but on your own nonetheless. No one is going to tell you to go to class, do your laundry, clean up your room, or go to sleep. If you want, you can eat Doritos and Ramen noodles every night for dinner, although I would not recommend it. Part of what you are here to learn is to make these choices responsibly. We have great confidence in your ability to do so.

No doubt, you will be tempted to engage in activities that may seem to be fun at the moment, but that might put you at risk. Please think twice before doing so. We admitted you because we thought you had good judgment. Please do not prove us wrong. If you cannot look your parents in the eye and explain why you think something is a good idea to do, you probably should not be doing it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must also tell you that you cannot flaunt the law or behave in ways that would get you arrested elsewhere and expect a free pass merely because you are a tuition-paying Tufts student. As an adult, you must accept the consequences of your actions. We expect you to be the type of person you described in your application. The Dean of Admissions assures me that none of you claimed to be loud, obnoxious, drunk, or offensive to your neighbors. We don't expect you to behave that way here either.

You have been prepared well for this day by your parents, family, and friends. Many of your loved ones have literally sacrificed so that you may enjoy the privilege of a Tufts education. Honor their sacrifice by behaving responsibly, and making the most of this extraordinary opportunity.

Going off to college is a big adjustment for each of you, but in some ways it is an even bigger adjustment for your families. You have lots of people to help you through this transition - advisors, deans, counselors, and fellow students. By contrast, your parents are on their own. It is up to you to help them adjust to a life where you are no longer a constant presence. Please keep in touch with them. Let them know how you are doing. It is even OK to ask them how they are doing. They will greatly appreciate email, phone calls, and even the occasional letter.

And now a word to parents: You should be enormously proud of what your sons and daughters have already accomplished. The fact that they are matriculating at Tufts today is but one sign that you have done your job well. But I suspect that as you prepare to say goodbye, your hopes and aspirations for them are tempered by more than a bit of anxiety. You are probably asking yourself, "Are they ready for all that awaits them? Will they act maturely? Will they use good judgment?" We raise our children to be independent, yet when they reach the moment when they are ready to spread their wings, our natural inclination is to cling to them.

I must now ask you to do the hardest thing you have ever done as parents - let go. Let your kids fight their own battles. They don't need you to help them switch sections, or to sort out roommate problems, or to figure out how to get something fixed in their dorm. Learning to deal with a large organization is another useful life skill that they will master at Tufts, if you let them. You cannot be everywhere for them, and I assure you; your kids don't want you to be.

You must also trust your sons and daughters to make the right choices. Of course, they will make mistakes, just as we did when we were their age. But you must give them the space and the opportunity to learn from their errors. Rest assured, they will remember the lessons that you, their first teachers, have taught them. And of course, we are here to help.

This is a good place, a caring place. All of us at Tufts are here to help your sons and daughters continue to grow and learn, to build upon the wonderful foundation that you have so lovingly provided to them.

So, members of the Class of 2009, your time has come. I speak for the entire faculty and staff of this great university when I say that we are delighted to have you join this special community. We look forward to getting to know you, to teaching you, and to working with you. I sincerely hope that in the process, many of us will become lifelong friends. May the next four years be filled with challenge, growth, opportunity, and fulfillment. Good luck.