哈佛首位黑人女校長開學致辭：改變自己才能改變世界！

9月4日，在一年一度的開學典禮上，哈佛大學新任校長克勞迪娜·蓋伊（Claudine Gay）發(fā)表演講，宣布大一新生正式加入哈佛。

克勞迪娜-蓋伊校長在哈佛大學2027屆新生開學典禮上對大一新生說："你們每個人都將成為自己，分享自己的觀點，為我們的使命做出貢獻，從而使哈佛變得更強、更好。"

"我知道這一點，因為我曾親眼目睹了這一切。年復一年，作為一名教師，我目睹了學生們非凡的轉變——他們對存在的各個維度的理解認知都發(fā)生了深刻的改變。"

對于蓋伊來說，這也是一次特別的典禮，這是她第 一次以哈佛大學校長的身份進行開學致辭及開學演講。她先發(fā)表了一個2分鐘的開學致辭，隨后在哈佛紀念教堂晨禱儀式上又發(fā)表了一個7分鐘的演講。

克勞迪娜·蓋伊是哈佛大學校史上第 一位黑人校長和第二位女性校長，更是美國藤校歷史上目前唯 一的一位黑人校長。

她出身于海地移民家庭，擁有哈佛大學政府學博士學位。

蓋伊校長的履歷也是一路學霸，曾就讀于全美第 一寄宿美高菲利普斯�？巳�特學院，隨后進入斯坦福大學學習經濟學，并獲得安娜勞拉邁爾斯經濟學最 佳本科論文獎，而后考入哈佛大學從事政治學研究。蓋伊于2006年加入哈佛大學，擔任政府學教授，并于2015-2018年擔任社會科學系主任，2018-2022年擔任哈佛大學文理學院院長，于2022年12月被任命為哈佛大學第三十任校長，于2023年7月1日起正式擔任哈佛大學新校長。

就任校長后，蓋伊還兼任政府學教授和非洲與非裔美國人研究的教授。在演講中，蓋伊校長分享了她的個人成長和奮斗經歷。她敦促學生們做好準備，克服本科期間可能出現的自我懷疑情緒。

以下為開學演講內容精彩節(jié)選：

你們每個人都值得擁有哈佛的入場券。這是這是你們通過不懈努力得到的。你們每個人都屬于這里。

你們都可以通過做真實的自己、分享不同的觀點以及作出貢獻，讓哈佛變得更強、更好。我明白你們能做到，因為這是我親眼所見。

作為一名哈佛的教職工，這么多年來，我見證了許多學生實現了令人驚嘆的變化，對世界的每個維度的理解和認知都發(fā)生了深刻改變。

我明白，大家在本科期間可能出現自我懷疑，這很難避免。

曾經，我11歲的時候，因為沒有中間名，我產生了缺失感，我擔心這種缺失感可能會讓我失去“重塑自己的可能”。

可是當我向父母尋求建議時，他們說：你的名字就足夠了。

我在腦海中反復思考這句話，這么多年來，它一直陪伴著我，這是關于我的特質、我的才能和我的身份的有力聲明。

即使是作為校長的現在，當我在文件上簽名時，這句話仍會浮現在我的腦海中。

從現在開始直到畢業(yè)典禮這期間，又或許是在這期間的某些時刻，你可能會感到能力不足。

盡管你現在知道得更多，但你會覺得怎么周圍的每個人都知道發(fā)生了什么，好像周圍的每個人都理解了你不理解的東西，看到了你看不到的東西。

當這種情況發(fā)生時，我希望你們想起這個故事、和我父母這般的智慧。

你被賦予的名字就是你需要的一切，從今天開始，你將努力讓自己揚名立萬。

你可以是誰？你將會是誰？

你們將與同學們一起，在與教師、輔導員和院長的交談中，結合自己的學習生活和學術研究來思考這些問題。

要注意那些能讓你充滿活力和成就感的任務和想法，關注內心的喜悅和滿足。不要認為任何事情是理所當然的。

為了如今的幸福，也為了未來的成就，你們要愿意重新考慮先前設定的那些（對于大學的）假設。 

除了蓋伊校長，還有其他哈佛大學教職人員參加了開學典禮，向哈佛的新生們送上祝福。

哈佛商學院的領導力教授、文理學院社會學教授、以及哈佛學院院長拉克什·庫拉納（Rakesh Khurana）在演講中鼓勵學生們 "勇于變革"，"超越自我"，充分利用哈佛的教育機會。

他說：“大學不是你人生路上的一個站點，它就是你的人生。”

“大學四年是你確定人生模式的時間，如果這些年里不冒險、不強化你的信念，不去思考你是誰和你想要什么，那么20年后，你仍將被這些事情困擾。”

“你將擁抱自己的轉變，擁有博雅教育所能提供的最 好的東西。在這個世界上能做的事情如此之多，擁抱自己的轉變聽上去可能像是一種較為自私的追求。但這是我們唯 一的出路。”

“我們只有勇于改變自己，才能開始改變世界。”

 哈佛新任校長開學致辭

Welcome and welcome back to Harvard!

歡迎,再次歡迎回到哈佛!

The beginning of each academic year thrills with possibility.

每一個新學年的伊始都令人激動且充滿可能。

What can we accomplish?What will we accomplish as individuals and as a community?How can we, how will we meet the moment?

小到個人，大到社區(qū)，我們能夠做到什么？我們會達成什么？我們如何才能，怎樣才會遇見那一刻?

For me, one of the most inspiring aspects of being part of our university is knowing that the gap between can and will is narrower here at Harvard.

對我來說,身為我們大學的一員，最歡欣鼓舞的一點就是知道——在哈佛,“能力”和“意愿”之間的鴻溝很小。

We dare to reach, encouraged by colleagues and by classmates, emboldened by a history of extraordinary achievement.

在同事和同學的鼓勵下,在非凡成就歷史的激勵下,我們敢于達成目標。

We dare to change knowing that leadership and impact demand innovation.

因為深知領導力和影響力需要創(chuàng)新，我們勇于改變。

Since my election as president, I've learned more about the aspirations that exist throughout our community.

自當選校長以來,我對整個社區(qū)存在的愿景了解得更多。

Aspirations that not only fulfill our mission but also expand, enrich, and celebrate it.

這些愿景不僅實現我們的使命,還擴展、充實并慶祝它。

At events and meetings, in chance encounters and over ice cream, I've gotten to know some of you and to understand what motivates your contributions to the university and your drive to change the world.

在活動和會議上,在偶遇甚至是一起吃冰淇淋時,我認識了你們中的一些人,并理解是什么驅使你們?yōu)榇髮W做出貢獻和改變世界的動力。

Though our pursuits are vast and varied, we all share something important and essential, a boundless and probing curiosity.

雖然我們的目標廣泛多樣,但我們都共享一些重要而本質的東西,那就是無窮無盡的好奇心。

I begin my first academic year as president in awe of your ambition, your optimism, your fearlessness, and your talent, and with enormous gratitude for the warm welcome you've given me.

作為校長,我對你們的雄心、樂觀、無畏和才華充滿敬畏,也對你們給予我的熱烈歡迎充滿了無限的感激,開始我的第 一個學年。

I wish you well in the months to come and I look forward to everything we'll accomplish together.

在未來的幾個月里,我祝你們一切順利,并期待我們將共同取得的一切。

Once again welcome and see you soon.

再次歡迎,期待很快見到你們!

哈佛官網原文報道

President Claudine Gay welcomes Class of 2027, urges them to fearlessly embrace personal transformation

BY：Liz Mineo Harvard Staff Writer

It was a day of firsts.

Harvard President Claudine Gay welcomed the Class of 2027 and exhorted them to lean into the journey that brought them to the present moment and gear up for the transformations that await them in the next four years.

“Let your joy and your pride win out,” said Gay, Ph.D. ’98, who spoke at Tercentenary Theatre on Monday afternoon in the annual Convocation ceremony, officially marking the entry of first-year students into the Harvard community. “Each of you deserves it. Each of you has earned it. Each of you belongs here.

“Each of you will make Harvard stronger and better by being who you are, by sharing your perspective, and by contributing to our mission,” she said. “I know this because I have seen it myself. Year after year, as a faculty member, I witnessed extraordinary transformations in students, profound shifts in understanding and awareness across every dimension of being.”

Yesterday was also an extra special Convocation for Gay, marking her first as president of Harvard. Gay succeeded Larry Bacow, who stepped down in June, after serving as Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 2018. Gay, who was also Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and a professor of African and African-American studies, urged the students to be prepared to overcome feelings of self-doubt that may arise at times during their undergraduate years.

She noted such insecurities are difficult to avoid, recounting an incident that took place when she was a child. At the age of 11 she began to feel painfully “insufficient” because she lacked a middle name. She feared being thus incomplete might somehow preclude her from “the possibility of reinvention.” When Gay turned to her parents for advice, they simply responded: “Your name is enough.”

“I turned those four words over in my mind, and they have stayed with me all these years, a powerful statement about my inheritance, my identity, and my capacity,” said Gay. “Sometimes, even now, even as president, when I am pushing a pen across paper and signing my name, those four words surface in my mind.”

“At some point between now and Commencement — probably at several points between now and your Commencement — you will feel insufficient. Despite knowing better, you will feel as if everyone around you knows exactly what is going on, as if everyone around you understands something you do not, sees something that you do not. When that happens, I hope you remember this story — and my parents’ wisdom.”

In closing Gay asked students to be willing to be transformed by Harvard by exploring who they are and who they want to become. “You have been given a name, and that is all that you need, but from this day forward you will make a name for yourself,” she said.

“Who can you be? Who will you be?’ said Gay. “These are the questions that you will consider alongside your classmates; in conversation with faculty, proctors, tutors, and deans; and in connection to your own learning and scholarship.

“Take notice of work and ideas that energize and fulfill you. Take notice of your joy and your satisfaction. Take nothing for granted. Be willing to reconsider assumptions for the sake of your present happiness, but also for future contentment.”

Along with Gay, other University officials took part in the ceremony to salute the newest members of the Harvard community, including Thomas Dunne, dean of students at Harvard College. Representing students were Harvard Undergraduate Association co-presidents John Cooke ’25 and Shikoh Hirabayashi ’25.

Rakesh Khurana, A.M. ’97, Ph.D.’98, Martin Bower Professor of Leadership at the Harvard Business School, professor of sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Danoff Dean of Harvard College, encouraged students to make the best of their Harvard education by being “open to transformation” and “commit[ting] to something beyond yourself.”

“College is not a stop on the way to the rest of your life,” he said. “This is your life. And these four years of College are where the patterns for your lives will be set. If you spend these years taking no chances, reinforcing your beliefs, deferring any reflection on who you are and what you want, you will be doing the same thing in 20 years.

“In embracing your own transformation, you will be embracing the best that a liberal arts education has to offer,” said Khurana. “To embrace your own transformation may sound like a selfish pursuit when there is so much work to be done in our world. But it is the only way forward. We can only begin to change the world if we are open to changing ourselves.”

聽君一席話，勝讀十年書！聽完哈佛校長的演講，不少寶子是不是已經想要馬上提升自己了呢？

改變自己的第 一步，從考一個優(yōu) 秀雅思成績開始！即刻咨詢新通經驗豐富的雅思老師，為你定制專屬雅思學習計劃！