Hello, members of the Harvard College Class of 2029!
The Harvard College Class of 2029: I promise you won’t grow tired of hearing that. In June, at Alumni Day, I welcomed a member of the Harvard College Class of 1948 who, at 99 years of age, was as proud as ever of his association with this institution, grateful for how it enabled him to pursue his interests, achieve his goals, and enjoy a productive, meaningful, and satisfying life.
When asked what he recalled most fondly about his time as an undergraduate, he offered an evergreen answer. For him—some eighty years after arriving in the Yard—what mattered most was, and I quote, “going to classes with some wonderful professors and meeting some great students and becoming friends.”
Harvard is a rare place of unending opportunity, in classrooms and labs, on the playing fields, on the stage, in the dining halls, museums, and libraries, and in activities taking place far from Harvard Square. Each pursuit spawns another, creating an endless chain of chances to explore and experience the world. There is more for you to try in a single day here than you could hope to accomplish in a week or maybe even a month. We chose you because you are exceptional students, but we also chose you because you are capable of making interesting and unusual decisions, not always the ones that others would make. You embrace the possibility not only of doing one thing well, but also of learning to do many things well at the same time. Many of you refuse to accept that you must always choose one of two or more options. In other words, you reject “either/or.” You are the kind of “both/and” people that this institution has nurtured, empowered, and celebrated throughout its long history.
But of all the opportunities you will have during your time here, the greatest opportunity for you to grow as an individual is sitting next to you—or a couple of seats down from you—or a few rows away from you. Each of you is here to teach as you learn. You are here to share your experience and perspective so that our community can be one in which all people are welcomed, all ideas are given due consideration, and all beliefs are treated with respect.
What does that look like in practice? Right now, you are trying your best to get comfortable, to navigate a new place and new people while projecting calm self-assurance despite nagging doubts about yourself and your place here. You will be tempted to find the familiar, to seek comfort in the company that you know. It can be very difficult to do otherwise when almost everything is unfamiliar.
But we also chose you, in part, because you consider the difficulties and challenges you encounter to be invitations to improve and ultimately to excel. You had to surmount a plethora of obstacles to be part of this class. I know some of you worried that you would not be able to make the journey here—would not be able to become part of our community. We are so glad to see you. Harvard would not be Harvard if it did not include inquisitive, ambitious students from across the United States and around the world.
We trust that you—of many points of origin and many more types of backgrounds—will greet differences with genuine curiosity and sincere interest. This, of course, does not mean that you will agree with everyone. It doesn’t even mean that you will like everyone—at least at first.
Let me tell you something few people know about me…
I didn’t do as well as I had hoped on the AP physics exam.
When I arrived here fresh from the Land of Lincoln in 1973 —or, as Lincoln might have put it, poor score and fifty-two years ago (I see some of you are paying attention!)—I had a strong sense, despite being gently advised otherwise, that I could certainly handle the most challenging physics course offered for first-year students. My advisors knew better, and I found myself in Physics 12 instead.
Staring at the very first problem set, I quickly realized that my fallback course was not a fallback after all. What was this strange concept of spherical coordinates? Would I need to spend hours a week just to get to the starting line? Did I even understand the gravity of the situation?
Almost immediately after I settled into my seat at our first section meeting and we started to review the P-set, one of my classmates blurted out: “When are we going to get some realproblems?”
I cringed. Here—in my section—was “that guy.” Was he a physics genius? How did he have the chutzpah to say such a thing? And why was he in Physics 12? Did I even belong in Physics 12?
I could have answered these questions for myself. There was, however, something about my classmate—about his self-confidence and seeming under placement in the class—that intrigued me. He was interesting, often funny, and, as I soon learned, behind that bluster was real insight. So, instead of reducing him to a caricature, I got to know him. He later became my roommate, and along with my other roommates, challenged me in ways that I might never have challenged myself. He made my undergraduate experience richer.
To this day, I feel very fortunate that I ended up in Physics 12, which was one of the most important courses I have taken in my entire academic career—and not only because it was the last physics course I took!
I did learn what spherical coordinates were, along with a good helping of classical physics, from two brilliant professors, the grad student leading my section, and my classmates. I also learned that not every person who becomes a good friend is someone who makes you comfortable, at least initially. “That guy” is still my good friend. And he still makes me proud. He went on to become an accomplished theoretical physicist, an expert in artificial intelligence, and a celebrated innovator. By single-handedly creating the arXiv, he changed how research findings in math and the physical sciences, and ultimately throughout the life sciences as well, are reviewed and disseminated. He is the “both/and” approach exemplified—a person who wanted real problems, found them, solved them—and then some!
What I most wish for you are the gifts that I received from Harvard as a student – strong and lasting friendships with your classmates and your fellow students, with your faculty and your mentors, with the many other people throughout the University who make this institution what it is. Some of these friendships will form easily and require little to no tending. Others will demand effort to take hold. Those are the ones that will evolve in ways you cannot anticipate— that will lead to debate and argument, conflict and reconciliation, growth and change. Those are the ones worth pursuing intently because they will deepen your understanding and enlarge your spirit.
Some eighty years from now, you and your friends will not remember a word of what I just said, but you will remember one another—the wonderful and great people that you are—people worth knowing, supporting, and celebrating.
Today, we mark much more than just your beginning here. We mark your belonging here. You are a part of Harvard, and Harvard is a part of you—a lifelong connection that will grow as strong as you are willing to make it. And lifelong friends who will grow as close as you are willing to let them—bringing you joy and happiness long after you leave the Yard.
Congratulations and welcome, members of the Harvard College Class of 2029!