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"Students, You Represent Our Best Hope"
The following remarks were delivered by the President of Stanford University at the Opening Convocation on September 21, 2001.
Parents and students of the Class of 2005: Good afternoon and welcome to Stanford University. Today, we celebrate the arrival of 1,717 new freshmen and transfer students.
I have struggled with the format of this Convocation and the content of this speech for the past 10 days. Since the morning of Sept. 11, the campus has been uncommonly quiet. Except for two memorial services, all major events were cancelled. As we considered how to start a new academic year, we decided that a Convocation was, in fact, the most fitting way to resume our normal activities.
Students, you represent our best hope for the future and for peace in our world. Americans and good-hearted people of all ages throughout the world will mourn this tragedy and carry the memory of that terrible day in their hearts. But it is your generation -- more so than mine or your parents' -- that will face the challenge of building a world in which such inhuman acts can never again occur.
?In your time here, you will get to know people whose background, culture or beliefs are different from yours. You may find that your values -- and your prejudices -- are challenged. I hope that you will discover a new understanding and appreciation for the pluralistic society in which we live and find constructive ways to contribute to the world.
For each of you, this moment is the beginning of a new chapter in your life. Let it also be a moment you remember as the initiation of your journey into the larger world, a time when you consider your role as a citizen and what your future contribution might be.
You will not be expected to undertake this intellectual journey on your own. We have an exceptional faculty and staff, dedicated to the search for knowledge and understanding, who will support and encourage you in your journey.
? I hope you are proud of the accomplishments that have brought you to this important transition inyour lives. I know that all of you have worked hard to get here, but let me also acknowledge the contributions of your parents, family members, teachers, mentors and friends who have supported you on your road to Stanford. Without them, the journey here would have been more difficult and less rewarding. In recognition of the tremendous support and encouragement you have received from these important people in your lives, let me invite our new students to show their appreciation with a round of applause.
?Students, I urge you to pursue your journey at Stanford with vigor. I hope that this beautiful campus will provide an ideal space for contemplation and inspiration to aid you in that journey. And I hope that you will find an intellectual pursuit that excites you and engages you so much that it will keep you up at night and get you out of bed early, even on the weekend! I hope that you find a passion that matches your own talents, so that you may discover, as I did, something that you can pursue for the rest of your life with enthusiasm and joy.
?Students, while I cannot make any predictions about what paths each of you will take in your journey at Stanford, I urge you to begin this process of intellectual discovery, just as Sen. Leland Stanford urged at the opening day ceremonies for the first freshman class in 1891:
?A university may be founded for you; in it, you may study for many years with all the advantages of learning. All that we can do for you is to place the opportunities within your reach; it rests with you to grasp and improve them.
I welcome all our new students and their parents, not just to the campus but to the Stanford family. Students, I hope your time here transforms your lives, just as it has transformed the lives of so many alumni. And, finally, I hope your time here will help to provide a foundation on which you will make your contributions to humanity and to a better future for yourselves and the generations that will follow.
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