December Convocation
Zellerbach Auditorium
December 6, 2003
December 2003 Graduation Celebration
By Robert M. Berdahl
Chancellor,
University of California, Berkeley
It is one of the distinct privileges that I have, as Chancellor of this great university, to congratulate and applaud its graduates at the end of each semester. This December convocation is relatively new. And judging by the attendance, and the number of parents, family, and friends who are gathered here to help me congratulate you, this is becoming a very popular ceremony -- as well it should be! Those of you graduating in December should not have to wait until May to enjoy the pleasure of donning a cap and gown and basking in the glow of completing a degree. You should not have to simply take your exams, pack your belongings, and steal out of town without our calling attention to your achievements!
So, above all, and first and foremost, congratulations! You have finished early, are graduating in three-and-a-half years! Or is it that you are finishing late, taking four-and-a-half years? Whether early or late, whether three years or five, it has gone quickly for you, I am sure. Of course, you haven't quite finished finals yet, so perhaps my congratulations are premature. Actually, we have so much confidence in you that we have this convocation before final exams are complete. (But, be on the safe side: study anyway!)
Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor who united Germany in the nineteenth century, once made an observation about students in German universities: one third, he said, broke down from overwork; one third broke down from dissipation; and the other third governed the country. Perhaps the ratios are a bit different in American universities, but of one thing I am certain: the students graduating from Berkeley are in the last third. You will be the leaders of this country and the world in the years ahead. I am certain of this because it has been true of our previous graduates, who have led, both here and abroad.
The world has changed dramatically since you entered Berkeley some years ago. For the first time since Pearl Harbor, sixty-two years ago tomorrow, the United States has had a major attack on its soil. And, as has been the case so many times since Pearl Harbor, the United States today has troops engaged in combat in foreign lands.
Less than a week after the murderous assault of 9/11, many of you were present at the campus memorial service to mourn and to remember those who died on that tragic day. At that service, I offered some brief remarks. I'd like to repeat some of those words, for they may serve as a reminder of some of the values we must cling to -- that I hope you will cling to as you move forth from this place. At that memorial, I said:
We are, in many ways, a different people than we were a week ago…We will never again board an airplane or see one fly overhead with the same assurance and security that we once had. We have seen America united in a resolve unlike any we have known since the Second World War, and we have heard our leaders speak openly in the language of war in a way that seems unfamiliar and unmeasured. We have been scarred by this tragedy. And we have been changed.
I continued:
But let us resolve here today not to be changed too much. We are a community of learners committed to unchanging principles. In moments such as these, when a sea change of attitude is upon us, we must remind ourselves of the enduring principles that form the foundation of a free and civilized society. These principles also provide the bedrock for academic community….
As a university, we are a community committed to seeking truth. Seeking truth, speaking truth, as we are given to see it, is often difficult, but never more than in times like these, for we know that in war, truth is often the first casualty. But our obligation, as an academic community, is to preserve this University as a place where seekers of truth are safe from the winds of popular opinion and political rhetoric that swirl around it. Our responsibility is to provide a safe haven for all who come here to learn.
Truth can only be approached, it can only be realized, by the exercise of free and open conversation, a discussion free of rancor, a discussion liberated from the strictures of dogma, a discussion emancipated from the demands for the acquiescence of others.
That is what I said slightly over two years ago. I believe it even more today. And that is my message to you as you leave this place. These are the principles I'd like for you to take with you today.
Let us not be changed too much.
Let us not allow those who would change us do so.
Let us not permit those who would exchange our freedoms for a false sense of security do so.
Let us not allow anyone to measure our patriotism by our silence in the face of injustice or our loyalty to our country to be measured by our acquiescence to policies we think to be wrong.
Let us not allow our critical faculties to be suspended or our consciences be constrained. Let us not focus our criticism so intently on others that we lose the capacity to criticize ourselves.
Let us continue to seek truth; indeed, let us demand truth from those who would lead us. Let us recognize that the repetition of a lie does not constitute truth.
Let us recognize that truth is never served by secrecy, that justice is never served by the denial of due process.
Let us remember that the light is never served by a cloak of darkness.
So, as you leave this hallowed place we call the University of California, Berkeley, always remember, ALWAYS REMEMBER, its motto:
Fiat Lux. Let there be light.