2017年哈佛校长福斯特哈佛大学毕业典礼演讲0627
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哈佛校长福斯特2017年哈佛大学毕业典礼演讲
AddressbyPresidentDrewFaustatHarvardUniversityCommencement
TercentenaryTheatre,HarvardUniversity,Cambridge,Mass.
May25,2017
哈佛大学背景补充:
HarvardUniversityisdevotedtoexcellencein致力于在....领域追求卓越teaching,learning,andresearch,andtodevelopingleaders培养领袖inmanydisciplineswhomakeadiffereneeglobally享誉世界.
Establishedin1636,HarvardistheoldestinstitutionofhighereducationintheUnitedStates.The
University,whichisbasedin位于....CambridgeandBoston,Massachusetts,hasanenrollmentof在校学生多达over20,000degreecandidates,includingundergraduate,graduate,andprofessionalstudents.Harvardhasmorethan360,000alumniaroundtheworld.
哈佛校长演讲全文如下:
Goodafternoon.MyremarksatthismomentinourCommencementrituals毕业典礼仪式areofficiallytitledaReporttotheAlumni."ThefirsttimeIdeliveredthem,in2008,IwastheonlyobstaclebetweenallofyouandJ.K.RowlingJK罗琳.Ilookedoutonaseaof许多；人山人
海eagerchildren,costumedDumbledores（阿不思-邓布利多是哈利波特系列丛书中的人物，是霍格沃茨魔法学校校长，被公认为是当代最伟大的巫师。）
扫帚，魁地奇是电影《哈利波特》中的一种对抗运动。）wavingimpatientlyintheair.Today,you
awaitMarkZuckerberg,whosewizardry（巫术、魔法）takesadifferentform,onethathaschangedtheworld,andalthoughhedoesn'seemtohaveinspiredanoutbreakofhoodies,wecertainlydohavesomecostumesinthisaudieneetoday.Iseewearenowhandingoutblankets.
他
，andQuidditchbrooms（魁地奇
Thisisadayofjoyandcelebration,ofhappyendingsandnewbeginnings,offamiliesandfriends,ofachievementsandhopes.Itisalsoadaywhenweasauniversityperformourmostimportantannualritual,affirmingonceagainthepurposesthatanimate激励usandthevaluesthatdirectandinspireus.
Iwanttospeaktodayaboutoneofthemostimportant-andinrecentmonths,mostcontested争议的-ofthesevalues.Itisonethathasprovokeddebate,dissent,confrontation,andevenvioleneeoncampusesacrossthecountry（可拆开翻译，处理为：激起争论、造成不
满和导致对抗，甚至在全国各大校园引发暴力
attentionandcriticism.
）,andonethathasattractedwidespreadpublic
Iam,ofcourse,talkingaboutissuesoffreespeechonuniversitycampuses.Themeaningandlimitsoffreespeecharequestionsdeeplyembeddedin深深地植入至Uourlegalsystem,in
interpretationsoftheFirstAmendmentanditsapplications.Iamnoconstitutionallawyer,indeednolawyeratall,andIdonotintendinmybriefremarkstodaytoaddresscomplexlegaldoctrines.
Nor,clearly,canIinafewbriefminutestakeonevenafractionoftheargumentsthathavebeenadvancedonthisissue.Instead,Ispeakasonewhohasbeenauniversitypresidentforadecadeinordertoraisethreequestions:
First:Whyisfreespeechsoimportanttoandatuniversities?Second:Whydoesitseemunderspecialchallengerightnow?
And,third:Howmightwebetteraddressthesechallengesbymovingbeyondjustdefensivelyprotectingfreespeech-which,ofcourse,wemustdo-toactivelyandaffirmativelyenablingitandnurturingenvironmentsinwhichitcanthrive?
Sofirst:Whyisfreespeechsoimportanttoandatuniversities?ThisisaquestionItookupwiththenewlyarrivedfirst-yearstudents一年级新生intheCollegewhenIwelcomedthematConvocationlastfall.Forcenturies,Itoldthem,universitieshavebeenenvironmentsinwhichknowledgehasbeendiscovered,collected,studied,debated,expanded,changed,andadvancedthroughthepowerofrationalargumentandexchange.Wepursuetruthunrelentingly不断追求真
理,butwemustneverbesocomplacentastobelievewehaveunerringlyattainedit.Veritasis
inspirationandaspiration.Weassumethereisalwaysmoretoknowanddiscoversoweopenourselvestochallengeandchange.Wemustalwaysbereadytobewrong,sobeingpartofauniversitycommunityrequirescourageandhumility勇气与谦逊.Universitiesmustbeplacesopentothekindofdebatethatcanchangeideasandcommittedtostandardsofreasonandevidencethatformthebasesforevaluatingthem.
Silencingideasorbaskinginintellectualorthodoxy正统知识independentoffactsandevidenceimpedes阻碍ouraccesstonewandbetterideas,anditinhibits抑制afullandconsideredrejectionofbadones.FromatleastthetimeofGalileo,wecanseehowrepressing抑制seeminglyhereticalideas歪理邪说hasblindedsocietiesandnationstotheenhancedknowledgeandunderstandingonwhichprogressdepend.Farmorerecently,wecanseehereatHarvardhowourinattentiveness漫不经心tothepowerandappealofconservativevoicesleftmuchofourcommunityastonished-blindsided攻其不备bytheoutcomeoflastfall'election.Wemustworktoensurethatuniversitiesdonotbecomebubblesisolatedfromtheconcernsanddiscourseofthesocietythatsurroundsthem.
Universitiesmustmodelacommitmenttothenotionthattruthcannotsimplybeclaimed,butmustbeestablished-establishedthroughreasonedargument,assessment,andevensometimesuncomfortablechallengesthatprovidethefoundationfortruth.Thelegitimacyof
universities'claimtobesourcesandvalidatorsoffactdependsonourwillingnesstoactivelyandvigorouslydefendthosefacts.Andwemustrememberthatlimitingsomespeechopensthedangerouspossibilitythatthespeechthatisultimatelycensoredmaybeourown.Ifsomewordsaretobetreatedasequivalenttophysicalviolenceandsilencedorevenprosecuted,whoisto
decidewhichwords?Freedomofexpression,asJusticeOliverWendellHolmesfamouslysaidlongago,protectsnotonlyfreethoughtforthosewhoagreewithusbutfreedomforthethoughtwehate.Weneedtohearthosehatefulideassooursocietyisfullyequippedtoopposeanddefeatthem.
Overtheyears,differencesabouttheimplementationoftheUniversity'sfreespeechprincipleshaveoftenprovokedcontroversy.Andwehaven'talwaysgottenitright.Aslongagoas1939,aninvitationfromastudentgrouptotheheadoftheAmericanCommunistPartygeneratedprotestandtheinvitationwasultimatelycanceledbytheCorporation.BertrandRussell'sappointmentas
WilliamJamesLecturerjustayearlaterdividedtheCorporation,butPresidentConantbrokethetieandRussellcame.Campusconflictsoverinvitedspeakersarehardlynew.
Yetthevehemence激烈withwhichtheseissueshavebeendebatedinrecentmonths,notjustoncampusesbutinthebroaderpublicsphere,suggeststhereissomethingdistinctiveaboutthismoment.Certainly,thesecontroversiesreflectahighlypolarizedpoliticalandsocialenvironment
-perhapsthemostdivisivesincetheeraoftheCivilWar.Andinthesealreadyfractious
circumstances,freespeechdebateshaveprovidedafertilesubstrateintowhichangeranddisagreementcouldbeplantedtonourishpartisanoutrageandgeneratemediaclickbait.Butthatisonlyapartialexplanation.
Universitiesthemselveshavechangeddramaticallyinrecentyears,reachingbeyondtheirtraditional,largelyhomogeneouspopulationstobecomemorediversethanperhapsanyotherinstitutioninwhichAmericansfindthemselveslivingtogether.Onceoverwhelminglywhite,male,Protestant,andupperclass,HarvardCollegeisnowhalffemale,majorityminority,religiouslypluralistic,withnearly60percentofstudentsabletoattendbecauseoffinancialaid.Fifteenpercentarethefirstintheirfamiliestogotocollege.Manyofourstudentsstruggletofeelfullmembersofthiscommunity-
