Brian C. Mitchell

Aug. 21, 2007

Class of 2011, this event celebrates the academic life of Bucknell. It is focused on you as the culminating event of yourintensive five days of Orientation and the beginning of your entry into life as a student at one of the country’s finest liberal arts universities. Gathered here are fellow students, faculty, staff, and members of the Board of Trustees and administration who this evening say to you: It is your turn.

You have grown up in a world of profound global change, a world where cultures flow together in a way unique in history, where ideas and inventions in the arts, sciences, engineering, and humanities can reach more people at once through the power of travel and technology than any generation has known.

You have also grown up in a world confronted daily with war and conflict, intense political partisanship, and deepening environmental and humanitarian concerns. New technologies emerge that have the power to sustain life or end it in ways either magical or diabolical.

New forms of communication alter the way we acquire knowledge and connect with each other at a staggering pace.We can now all have the thrill of being “Googled.” Then there is YouTube. Can we only imagine what’s next?

Imagine what could be next
Actually, we hope you, Class of 2011, are imagining what could be next in whatever area of interest you have.

Soon, and in fact, now, this world requires your knowledge, skills, and leadership.

We who believe in the liberal arts believe there is no better preparation for change than an advanced education that inspires you, challenges you, and even causes you to awaken at night with an idea no one else has ever dreamed.

Tonight, we at your University assure you that you can find that education here. I say “can” and not “will” because, at Bucknell, learning is far from a passive enterprise. Our faculty do not place “learning”
upon the table for you to carry off. They do not teach you a formula that solves every problem. The
library does not have a collection, we are sorry to report, in which the secret awaits.

Active enterprise
Here, learning is an active enterprise. That is the nature of learning in a liberal arts community.

You will have to sift through conflicting ideas. Weigh evidence from the philosophical to the scientific. And actively engage with the link between what you have heard and what you believe, what is known as fact and what is only hypothesized. Plunging into this swirl of ideas and languages, histories and predictions, talents
and potential, you can learn to build your life around what is essential, what is genuine and not merely what is argued with passion.

To do so, you will have to seek out the extraordinary, and extraordinarily rewarding, capacity of this faculty and this liberal arts education to enrich you. Not necessarily materially, though we know that is on many of your minds, but in every realm within reach of your mind to grow, to test itself, to find a deeper understanding, in fact, we believe, to become fully alive. Bucknell chose you as muchas you chose us, because we know you can step up to the challenge.

Meaning of liberal arts
To help explain more about academic life here at Bucknell and the meaning of this liberal arts education, we have invited Professor James Lavine to speak tonight.

Professor Lavine is an accomplished teacher, researcher, and member of this campus community. We wanted a faculty member to help convey to you what life at this University is all about, and we appreciate his being here to do so.

Around you sit representatives of the faculty of Bucknell who together stand prepared to guide you, work closely with you, challenge you, help you, and in fact, learn from you too.

It must be said, and we mean it, that we trust you will put your coursework first – before extracurricular programs, before sports, before your volunteer leadership roles, and, yes, before your social life.

Wide opportunities
We also did not invite you to Bucknell because we wanted academic hermits. We look for students who are not simply bright and curious about learning, but also who have demonstrated a capacity to thrive in an environment of wide opportunities and who can balance well many interests.

Here your academic life and life outside the classroom can connect with and affirm one another in a special way.

Your University is filled with seemingly non-stop guest speakers, performances, films, and exhibits to enrich your college experience. Again I say can, not will. That is up to you.

Allow me to quickly give you several examples to merely suggest the rich experiences ahead.

This Friday, our Samek Art Gallery will open an exhibit called “The China Series,” featuring the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky. His work depicts industrial activity in China through images that capture uniquely a vision of our modern existence.

The recent massive recalls of Chinese products, not to mention the ongoing debate over the US-China relationship, make this an especially timely exhibit. We wonder, can you find connections between this photography and these issues? That is the liberal arts.

On October 9, you will have a special opportunity to hear from a Nobel Prize winner in literature, one of only 19 alive today, when Derek Walcott speaks here in the Weis Center. A renowned poet and playwright, he has compiled a body of work that represents the highest level of achievement in his profession.

Liberal arts
If you attend–and we hope that you will – you may discover something not only about great writing, but also about the lasting effects of colonization in the Caribbean. That too is the liberal arts.

We will continue to examine the theme of the Caribbean, along with Latin America, through our International Focus Year speaker series. And the Humanities Institute will bring scholars to speak with us about the poetics and practice of environmental sustainability. These events are only the beginning. But they can supplement – supplement, not replace – your formal learning in the liberal arts.

Ahead of you here at Bucknell, in the engagement with your faculty and fellow students, with books and laboratory experiments and field research and more, at a level deeper than you might even have believed possible, the liberal arts await you here in their completeness.

So let me leave you with this: Choose not whether you can, but if you should. Not whether you might, but if you will. At the center of these decisions, ask, What will I learn? And once you conclude that it is worthwhile, do not simply conclude that you can. Conclude that you will begin.

It is great to have you here.