哈佛大学校长演讲稿.docx

1、哈佛大学校长演讲稿October 5, 2018马萨诸塞州，美国Lawrence BacowPresident of HarvardI guess its appropriate that I begin with good afternoon!我想这样开始我今天的演讲下午好。People learn a lot at Harvard!人们在哈佛大学学到很多！This truly is an astonishing sight, seeing so many of you here in Harvard Yard today.今天在哈佛的校园里看到这么多人，我很激动。Its a great r

2、eminder that nobody gets anywhere of consequence in this world on his or her own and that includes becoming president of Harvard.这其实提醒了我们，在这个世界上没有人可以独自完成什么了不起的事 - 包括成为哈佛大学校长。I have been blessed to have people ready to help me at every step of the way, beginning with my parents, who worked hard every

3、 day to ensure that I had boundless opportunities. I would not be here today without the love of my life, Adele, who has made my life so meaningful and rich, and also without my children, from whom I have learned and continue to learn so much.我很幸运能让人们时常帮助我，我的父母每天勤勤恳恳地工作，为我提供了无限的机会。如果没有这些爱和亲情，我今天就不会在

4、这里，是我的家人让我的生活变得如此丰富而有意义，我从中得到了很多营养，并且这种养分仍在每天不断地让我受益。I thank all of my family and my dear friends, who are also family, for traveling from far and wide to be here.我感谢我的所有家人和亲爱的朋友，我们是一个伐木累，我们都是来自五湖四海，为了一个共同的革命目标，走到一起来了。I have been blessed, also, by inspiring teachers and mentors, three of whom I am h

5、onored to have with me today my Harvard dissertation advisors, Mark Moore, Richard Zeckhauser, and Richard Light to mark it. Thank you for having taught me so well.我也很荣幸今天和我的人生导师们站在一起 - 我的哈佛论文导师甲，乙，和丙。谢谢您们对我悉心的教导。I would also like to thank my predecessors Drew Faust, Larry Summers, Neil Rudenstine,

6、and Derek Bok for their thoughtful stewardship and leadership of Harvard over the last half century.I would also like to thank each of them for their excellent advice as I take the helm.我还要感谢我之前的几任校长，Drew Faust，Larry Summers，Neil Rudenstine和Derek Bok。在过去近半个世纪的时间里，他们为带领哈佛前行鞠躬尽瘁，也在我刚刚上任之际提出了很多优秀的建议。A

7、special thanks also to my colleagues from Tufts and from MIT, who taught me how to be a leader in higher education. I guarantee you that there are many people assembled here who pray that you taught me very well!特别感谢Tufts大学和MIT的同事，他们在以前的经历中教导我如何成为高等教育的领导者。我可以很肯定的说，今天在座的大多数人都希望他们把我教导的很好！Lawrence Baco

8、w曾于1998-2001年在MIT担任Chancellor，于2001-2011年在Tufts担任校长Of course, the Harvard presidency seems to involve some unique hazards and over its long history, a nearly infinite list of potential missteps.当然，当哈佛大学的校长也是一件很有风险的事 - 在其悠久的历史中，校长犯错误的经历可以说数不胜数。President Langdon, for example, was forced to resign afte

9、r the students found that his sermons dragged on too long a great incentive for me to be brief today.例如，Langdon校长由于他的学生不满他讲道时经常拖堂被迫辞职 - 这是我今天得到的第一份前车之鉴。Samuel Langdon，17741780年哈佛校长，神学博士。1776年英军撤离波士顿后，哈佛大学深陷战争泥淖，很多教学活动被迫中断，财政赤字，且演讲又臭又长。1780年学生请愿将其弹劾。President Mather, on the other hand, outraged the e

10、ntire Harvard community by refusing to move here from Boston, arguing that the air in Cambridge did not agree with him. Fortunately, I actually like the atmosphere here a lot!另一方面，Mather校长以“剑桥的空气不好”为由拒绝从波士顿搬家到哈佛所在的剑桥，激怒了全体哈佛师生。幸运的是，我觉得这里的空气还是挺香甜的！Increase Mather， 1692-1701年哈佛校长，任期内始终住在波士顿北部，每日乘渡轮上班。

11、在他的任期内，甚至有四年都不在美国，被人们称为“隐形的校长”。1701年，Mather的政治对手掌权弹劾Mather，勒令Mather在搬来剑桥和放弃校长身份中二选一，最终他选择回到Boston而放弃哈佛校长的职务。Even President Eliot, arguably Harvards most successful president, provoked an uproar now and then. He wanted to abolish hockey, basketball, and football, on the grounds that they required tea

12、mwork, and, in his mind, Harvard had absolutely no use for that.即使是Eliot校长，可以说是哈佛大学最成功的校长，偶尔也会引起一些轩然大波。当时他想要取消曲棍球，篮球和足球等团队竞技项目，因为在他看来，哈佛并不需要这些。Charles William Eliot, 1869-1909年担任哈佛校长长达40年之久，对哈佛大学进行了长足的改革，在任期间让哈佛成为了世界上最好的研究型大学之一。He also tried over and over again to acquire MIT. Rafael, you can relax.

13、 Ill do my best to avoid all such misadventures.在他的任期内，他还一遍又一遍地试图吞并隔壁的MIT。 Rafael校长，请你放心，我会尽我最大可能避免这件事的发生。Rafael Reif，2012 - 至今，MIT的第17任校长。I am deeply honored to assume the leadership of this wonderful institution, and proud that as the nations oldest university, Harvard has helped to shape the Amer

14、ican system of higher education, which is magnificent in its independence, sweep, and diversity.我很荣幸能够领导Harvard这个伟大的组织，这个美国历史最悠久的学校，我感到深深的自豪。哈佛帮助塑造了美国的高等教育系统，这个系统在独立自由，上下求索和多元包容等各个方面都出类拔萃。I am also honored that so many other great institutions are represented here today, and I thank all of my collea

15、gues from all over the country and all over the world for your good wishes and, frankly, your support, because this is not an easy moment to assume the leadership of any college or university.今天在这里也有很多其他优秀机构的代表，感谢来自全国乃至全世界各地的所有同事的祝愿和支持，这不是一件容易的事情。These are challenging times for higher education in A

16、merica.当下，美国高等教育正面临着巨大的挑战。For the first time in my lifetime, people are actually questioning the value of sending a child to college.在我人生中第一次，人们对送孩子上大学的价值产生了质疑。For the first time in my lifetime, people are asking whether or not colleges and universities are worthy of public support.在我人生中第一次，人们对高等教育是

17、否值得公众的支持产生了质疑。For the first time in my lifetime, people are expressing doubts about whether colleges and universities are even good for the nation.在我人生中第一次，人们对大学是否对国家长远发展有益产生了质疑。These questions force us to ask: What does higher education really contribute to the national life?这些问题迫使我们要问：高等教育对一个国家的贡献

18、了什么？Unfortunately, more people than we would like to admit believe that universities are not nearly as open to ideas from across the political spectrum as we should be; that we are becoming unaffordable and inaccessible, out of touch with the rest of America; and that we care more about making our i

19、nstitutions great, than about making the world better.不幸的是，人们更愿意相信，大学对政治领域的思想并不像我们想的那样开放；人们更愿意相信，这种开放已经变成空中楼阁，让大众无法承受，甚至把我们与美国其他地方割裂开来；人们更愿意相信，我们更关心的是让我们学校变得更好，而不是让世界变得更美好。While there may be may be a kernel of truth here, if I believed that these criticisms fundamentally represented who we are, I wo

20、uld not be standing before you today. All of our institutions are striving to make wise choices amidst swirling economic, social, and political currents that often make wisdom difficult to perceive.如果这些批评真的来自于他们所“代表”的群体，注意是如果，我今天也不会站在这里了。我们所有的这些组织都在不断地努力求索，以求在经济，社会和政治的潮流中作出明智的抉择，而这些潮流往往掩藏这些抉择之中的大智慧。

21、We need, together, to reaffirm that higher education is a public good worthy of support and beyond that, a pillar of our democracy that, if dislodged, will change the United States into something fundamentally bleaker and smaller.我们需要共同重申，高等教育是一种值得支持的公共利益 - 不仅如此，我们更是国家民主的一个支柱。如果这个支柱倒塌，美国将从根本上被削弱成一种飘

22、渺的存在。Its worth remembering that most of the nations founders were first-generation college students. They not only shaped our form of government, they built new universities. Having had their own minds opened and improved by learning, they were certain that government by and for the people requires

23、an educated citizenry.值得一提的是，大多数国家的创始人都是第一代大学生。他们不仅塑造了我们的政府形式，还拓展了新的高等教育。他们通过学习开放了自己的思想，也更加确信政府和人民需要良好的公民教育。Even at some of the most difficult moments in our national history, our leaders understood that they could strengthen the nation by educating more of our society. Abraham Lincoln signed the Mo

24、rrill Act during the dark days of the Civil War, creating land-grant universities to spread useful knowledge across this immense raw continent.即使在历史上最危难的时刻，我们的领袖们也明白，他们可以通过教育来挽救这个脆弱的国家。林肯在内战的黑暗时期签署了莫里尔法案，创建了赠地大学，在这个巨大的原始大陆上传播有用的知识。莫里尔法案，又称土地拨赠法案，1857年由美国参议员Justin Smith Morrill提出，该法案要求联邦政府为每个州提供土地三万亩

25、，用于援建农业和工业方面的学校。该法案通过国会投票后，又在1859年被否决。1862年，时任总统林肯为之翻案，将其签署为正式的法令。这个法案促成了50余所美国大学的建立，其中不乏康奈尔大学、加州大学伯克利分校等日后的世界顶尖名校。President Franklin Roosevelt signed the G.I. Bill just two weeks after D-Day, making a college education one of the prime rewards for national service, and sending vast numbers of less-

26、privileged Americans to college for the first time.富兰克林罗斯福总统在二战诺曼底登陆之后仅仅两周就签署了G.I.法案，将大学教育作为国家服务的主要内容之一，并首次将大量收到不公正对待的美国人平等地送入大学。D-day，the day，1944年6月6日，第二次世界大战中，盟军在法国北部诺曼底登陆。G.I法案，美国退伍军人权利法案，给予了美国退伍军人继续深造的权利。Every such expansion of higher education, every move toward openness to those previously ex

27、cluded, has brought the United States closer to the ideal of equality and opportunity for all.这样的例子还有很多，每次这样高等教育机会的拓展，都使得美国更接近那个人人享有平等机会的理想彼岸。So higher education has not only supported our democracy, but in some sense it has created it and we are nowhere near done.因此，高等教育不仅支持了我们的民主，更在某种意义上创造了民主，我们还在

28、继续为之努力My friend Drew Faust has often wished for Harvard that it be as good as it is great. To me, the goodness of Harvard and of all of our universities lies in the three essential values we represent: truth, or, as we say here, veritas; excellence; and opportunity.我的朋友Drew Faust时常期盼，哈佛大学能够在方方面面做到卓越

29、。对我来说，哈佛大学和我们所有大学的优点在于我们所代表的三个基本价值观：真理，卓越和机会。Drew Faust，于2007-2018年间在哈佛大学担任校长。Today, we have to embody and defend truth, excellence, and opportunity more than ever. We do this not to stave off our critics, but because these are the values that made our nation great.今天，我们必须比以往任何时候都能更好地去捍卫真理，卓越和机会。我们这

30、样做不是为了避开那些批评的声音，而是因为这是使我们国家真正伟大的价值观。As we consider truth, clearly, weve come a long way from the days when our colleague United States Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”我们的同僚，美国参议员Daniel Patrick Moynihan曾说过：“每个人都有权发表自己的观点，这些观点并不

31、局限于事实的真相。”当我们在这里讨论真相时，我们已经在这条道路上走了很远。Now that technology has disintermediated the editorial function, allowing anybody to publish his or her own view of events, our fragmented media struggle to make the distinction between opinion and facts.现如今技术已经打破了舆论的壁垒，任何人都有机会发表自己的观点，这使得我们在铺天盖地的信息中更难以判断什么是观点，什么是

32、事实。The result, often, is a feverish diffusion of rumor, fantasy, and emotion unconstrained by reason or reality.我们所看到的故事往往勾兑了谣言，幻想和狂热的情感，超出了理性和现实的限制。And it is precisely because we find ourselves in this post-factual world that strong colleges and universities are essential.正是因为我们周围的世界中充满的各种被“加工”的信息，优秀的大学和高等教育才更加不可或缺。Given the necessity today of thinking critically and differentiating the signal from the noise, a broad liberal arts education has never been more important. It is our re