Matriculation Address 2008

Lawrence S. Bacow
Matriculation Address
August 27, 2008

Faculty, parents, family and friends, Dan Doherty representing our Board of Trustees, but most of all, to the Class of 2012, welcome! I speak for the entire Tufts community – faculty, staff, and alumni – when I say that we are delighted that you are joining us, that you are all now Jumbos.

I know you have all been looking forward to this day with great anticipation. In some ways, you have just completed your own version of the Boston Marathon, otherwise known as the college admissions process.

For many of you it began almost two years ago when you started preparing for the SAT and surfing the web for information about schools.  Then it was college tours, filling out applications, securing letters of recommendation, interviews, and writing those pesky admissions essays.  You endured countless questions from friends, relatives, and even complete strangers about where you were applying to college.  Even after you had decided to come to Tufts (a good decision, I might add) you still had endless conversations with your parents about what stuff to bring to school and whether it would fit in whatever vehicle you used to get here.  Well, all of that is now behind you.

In electing to enroll at Tufts, you are joining an institution with a rich history and equally rich traditions.  We were founded in 1852 by the Universalists.  Our founder, Hosea Ballou 2d, was a Universalist minister, as were the first four presidents of the College.  We were named for our benefactors, Charles and Hannah Tufts, who donated the land on which the campus now sits.

The Universalists were a progressive lot.  They were early abolitionists.  They also believed in universal education.  At a time when a college education was often reserved for the male children of privilege, Universalists championed education for women, the poor, and minorities.  The founders of the College also stipulated that there would never be a religious test for employment or admission at Tufts, a truly radical notion at the time.

This progressive DNA is still deeply embedded in our culture.  We still believe in universal education.  It is one of the reasons we embrace diversity in every possible dimension.  And like our founders, we believe that with education comes responsibility.  Those of you who are fortunate enough to study at Tufts have an obligation to use your education for the benefit of others.  We believe that each of you must become an active citizen of this community and every community that you will inhabit in the future. 

One of the first responsibilities of an active citizen is to vote.  So, Class of 2012, I would like to give you your first homework assignment.  All those who are eligible to vote are expected – perhaps I should say required – to participate in the upcoming election on November 4.  We have made it easy for you to register, or to request an absentee ballot if you are registered back home.  All you have to do is to go to the website of the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service.

If you have any second thoughts about voting, let me remind you that some of your contemporaries will not enjoy the luxury of spending Election Day on a college campus.  I speak, of course, of the men and women serving our country in uniform in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.  Elections matter.  You honor their service by participating in this most important obligation of citizenship in a democracy.  I expect 100 percent of Tufts students who are eligible to vote to cast a ballot.  No excuses.

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As you will soon discover, our faculty care passionately about Tufts.  So in preparing this speech, I decided to ask them, via email, what advice they would give you, our entering students. Their responses were terrific.  Let me share a few of them with you.

Shelly Krimsky, a faculty member in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, noted that you are all about to embark on a unique life experience, one you will refer back to at all other periods in your life.  How true this is.  Last spring my wife Adele and I had dinner in Connecticut with six couples, all members of the Class of 1978.  They had met on this campus, on this very hill, 34 years earlier, and had formed friendships that endure to this day.  They attended each other's weddings, became godparents to each other's children, and continue to share all of life's major passages together.  If your class is like all the others that have preceded it, you will do the same.  Sitting on this Quad are your future best friends, spouses, and life partners.  One of the many things you have to look forward to over the next four years is finding out who they all are.

You will be pleased to know that far and away the most frequent response I received from our faculty was that they want you to get to know them!  Charles Inouye, a professor of Japanese, put it best, "Forge a lasting relationship with one professor per semester.  Show up for office hours.  Ask questions.  Share ideas.  Don't be afraid of befriending someone older.  It's not sucking up because we're not that stupid.  It's what most faculty members want.  It's one of the best parts of our job."  Well said, Charles.

Unlike faculty at some places, professors at Tufts teach because they really like students.  In fact, I will tell you a secret.  The reason most of us became professors is that we liked school so much we never wanted to leave.  Look at me; 57 years old and still living in university housing.  Seriously, we teach because we love to engage with young, bright, enthusiastic people like you.  Get to know us.  Ask your professors to have a cup of coffee with you in the Library Café.  Anything you order to drink together is on the house.  Invite a faculty member to lunch or dinner.  Talk to them about their research, or what excites them about their work, or about their own career path.  You will be surprised at what you learn, and you may make a friend for life.

Many faculty urged that you develop your curiosity.  Sam Sommers, a professor of psychology, suggests that you take one course each semester in a subject that you know nothing about.  To quote Sam, "I've never talked to a former student who looks back on her college days and says, ‘You know, I really wish I had taken those last two classes to finish that second major'."  Edith Balbach, from Community Health, counsels that your career plans should not be written in stone.  What better time in your life to explore new ideas and new fields than during your undergraduate years?

Eric Chaisson, a cosmologist and head of the Wright Center, notes that the world around us is literally changing all the time.  From galaxies and stars, to planets and life forms, change is constant.  This is as true for social and economic systems as it is for the physical world.  As Eric puts it, "Change is constant, time is irreversible, energy is ubiquitous, and adaptation is essential."  Learn to understand change and to adapt while you are here and you will thrive in an ever-changing world.

Nancy Bauer, a faculty member in philosophy, suggested that each of you learn a completely new skill – specifically, how to ask for help.  Your presence on this Quad today is proof that you have succeeded at the very highest level during your high school years.  But the competition is now tougher.  The material will come at you much faster.  Every one of you will need assistance dealing with something important – not just routine advice or tutoring – at least once during your college career.  Maybe you will fall dangerously behind in your studies, or come down with mono, or have to deal with a tough situation back home.  Do not let anxiety or embarrassment or a sense of hopelessness stand in the way of asking for help.  You are unique, but your situation is not. Our faculty and staff are eager to help you through whatever challenges you face.

All good advice, and let me add a few suggestions of my own.

You came here to grow intellectually.  But the only way you will grow is if you are challenged in your thinking – to have your ideas questioned, to be pushed to consider the assumptions that underlie your arguments, and to have your logic subjected to the closest possible scrutiny.  This process is likely to make you feel uncomfortable.  Nobody likes to be told that they are wrong.  But I hope you will take each such challenge as the learning experience it is meant to be.

Let me give you an example.  A professor I know at another university once provided the following comments on a student paper. "I find this paper enormously frustrating.  It is like watching a carpenter work with bent saws and fat screwdrivers."  These critical comments went on for three more pages, single-spaced.

If you think that the student who wrote this paper was devastated to receive these comments, I can assure you, I was.  But this same professor ultimately became my thesis advisor and a dear friend.  I learned more from him than just about anyone else in graduate school.  Learn to welcome and accept criticism and you will grow and thrive at Tufts and beyond.

At Tufts, you will encounter classmates who are quite different from you.  Seek them out.  Get to know them.  We learn from our differences.  While we expect that everyone on this campus will be treated with civility and respect, Tufts is not a cocoon.  We would not be doing our job if we isolated you from all that is unpleasant in the world.  To the contrary, our job is to prepare you for the world you will encounter when you leave here.

You are going to school in one of the truly great cities of the world.  Get to know Boston.  Learn something about its history and its neighborhoods.  Take advantage of its many great cultural institutions.  If you spend all four of your years on this campus, you will miss out on much that Boston and Tufts have to offer.

Medford and Somerville, our host communities, also are rich in history.  Medford is the fourth oldest city in nation.  Many of the clipper ships that helped support a thriving maritime trade during the early days of this country were built just a few blocks from here on South Street.  The first American flag in the colonies flew over Somerville in 1776.  You can learn much about the slave trade in early America by visiting Royall House just a few blocks from the campus on George Street.

The Revolutionary War began just seven miles from here with the battle at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.  Today, the third Monday in April is still celebrated in Boston as Patriot's Day with the running of the Boston Marathon.  Each year, Tufts enters the largest collegiate team in the Marathon.  Two hundred students, faculty, staff, alumni and parents run the 26.2 mile route from Hopkinton to Boston.  We train together throughout the fall and winter.  If you really want to test yourself – if you really want to learn the true meaning of mental discipline, preparation, determination, and teamwork – join our team.  If you do, you will also have the opportunity to learn from one of Tufts' great teachers, our coach, Don Megerle.  If you are interested in giving it a try, check out the President's Marathon Challenge website.

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 84,000 Tufts alumni represented here by Mark Alpert, President of the Alumni Association.  They have interviewed you and supported scholarships that underwrite your education.  Many 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 2012, 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.  If you want to sleep in and skip class, no one will tell you to get out of bed.  If your roommate does not object, you never have to make your bed, clean up your room or even wash your clothes.  If you get sick, it will be up to you to get yourself to Health Services.  Part of what you are here to learn is to make these choices responsibly.  We have great faith in your ability to do so.

If you look hard enough, you will find many temptations on a college campus – and Tufts is no exception.  We admitted you because we thought you had good judgment.  Please do not prove us wrong.  If you would not be comfortable explaining to your parents why you did something, don't do it.  Your Tufts ID does not entitle you to flout the law or behave in ways that would get you arrested elsewhere.  Tufts is not a consequence-free zone.  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, faculty and fellow students.  By contrast, your parents are on their own.  Since they brought you home from the hospital, you have been at the center of their lives.  Indeed, you will not appreciate all they have done for you until you become parents yourselves.  It is now up to you to help them adjust to a life where you are no longer a constant presence.

Please keep in touch, and when you call home, please don't forget to ask your folks how they are doing.

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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 sitting here 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 solve their registration problems, or to lobby to get a better housing assignment.  If the refrigerator breaks in their suite, they don't need you to call the President's Office to get it fixed.  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.  Neither you nor I were perfect 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.

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Students:  The last hurdle you have to clear before really starting your Tufts education is, "The Conversation."  This is the awkward moment when you actually have to say goodbye to your families.  I suspect both you and your parents have been anticipating this moment for some time.  Some of you may have even extracted promises from your parents to avoid emotional good byes.

But I am a parent myself.  So, to the parents assembled here, I hereby grant you a special presidential release from all commitments to avoid emotional goodbyes.  I know they were made under duress and so they are legally unenforceable.  When the time comes, hold your kids close, give them a big hug, and cry if you want.  I guarantee that no one will notice because they will all be doing the same.

Members of the Class of 2012, your time has come.  The next time you assemble together on this Quad, it will be for your commencement.  May the next four years bring you challenge, growth, excitement, passion, opportunity, and fulfillment.  I know I speak for all those assembled here today – your families, friends, faculty, and staff – we look forward to sharing this extraordinary journey with you.  Good luck to you all.