Tufts University Baccalaureate Address
President Lawrence S. Bacow's Baccalaureate Address to the Class of 2004,
Saturday, May 22, 2004.

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [05.22.04] Members of the Class of 2004, parents, family members, friends, and colleagues…

I would like to begin by telling you a story. Some of you may know that I love to sail. A few years back, my wife and I were sailing with my college roommate and his wife. It was a beautiful New England late summer day. As we returned to shore, the breeze was slowly dying, the sun was setting, the boat moved along almost silently. We had just opened a nice bottle of wine in this idyllic setting when my roommate took off his watch, paused for a moment, and then smashed it on the side of the boat, startling us. We just looked at him with our mouths open, and he looked back at us, smiled, and said, “This moment is so perfect. I wish time would stand still.”

Too often we let sacred moments pass without savoring them. This weekend is one such moment. Over the course of your lifetime, you will have others. I hope you will take the next few days in and savor the experience. Let today and tomorrow be about enjoying this moment, this rite of passage. Try to let time stand still. Be here with the people who you love and who love you. Don’t rush it. The future will present itself soon enough.

The special nature of this particular moment is very clear to me. A week ago today, my wife Adele and I participated in a very similar ceremony, as we watched our youngest son graduate from college. We felt the same pride that your parents do in your accomplishments, the same astonishment that we were old enough to have a child graduating from college, and the same relief that the tuition payments were finally coming to an end.

While your four years at Tufts may have gone by in the blink of an eye, much has happened during your time here. Each of you has grown intellectually and as individuals. You have learned in the classroom, in the laboratory, through internships, and in the library. Many of you have studied abroad. You have worked in the community, performed on stage, competed on the playing fields, and been involved in every campus activity possible. You have had the freedom to live independently, to make your own decisions about what you will or will not do, and to live with the consequences. You have learned to live and work with people who are very different from you, fellow classmates who come from different cultures, nations, regions, family, and economic circumstances.

Each of these interactions whether with faculty, fellow students, or members of the broader community, has been a learning experience. Each constitutes part of your Tufts education. And each has shaped you. I hope we have stretched you, pushed you, and at times even made you uncomfortable. Often we learn most when we are forced outside our comfort zone.

For those of us who have been privileged to teach you and share this campus with you, we have marveled at how you have grown and matured. Sometimes these changes are not obvious to you, but they are to others. I am reminded at times like this of the story that Mark Twain used to tell of a student at his college graduation. “What did you learn in your four years at school?” he was asked. “Not much,” the student replied, “but my parents seemed to have learned a lot while I was gone.”

Adele and I have enjoyed talking to you about your Tufts experiences. I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of you leave here with mixed emotions. You have loved your time at Tufts. Many of you have described it as the best years of your life. But many of you have also confessed to us that you are apprehensive about leaving the womb, about venturing out into the larger world where you are expected to eventually find a job, support yourselves, and God forbid, even have to wake up routinely at 7 a.m. or earlier to make it to work by 9.

Well, I’ll let you in on a secret. If these last four years turn out to be the best years of your life, Tufts will have failed you. It only gets better from here. You have so much ahead of you.

Many of you fear the loss of freedom that you expect to occur as you transition from college student to the world beyond. But independence and responsibility bring about greater freedom, not less. You are no longer constricted by degree requirements, by the necessity that you attend class, do homework, or take exams. Just think. Your nights and weekends are about to be your own, unconstrained by school work. You can literally live anywhere in the world. You have the freedom to do things because you value them, not because others expect you or require you to do them. Take advantage of this freedom. Be willing to take risks with your career, especially during these early years when you have so much room to run and so little that ties you down.

Some of you are sad because you will be saying goodbye tomorrow to good friends. But the friendships you have made here will endure. Indeed they will deepen and ripen as you share life’s passages together. If you are like those who have preceded you on this Hill, you will continue to see your classmates. You will attend each other’s weddings, vacation together with growing families, agonize over important career moves, and share the joys, sorrows and challenges that make up a full life. Your best years together as friends are ahead of you.

You have so much to look forward to – falling in love, bringing new life into this world, raising a child, watching as your children grow to be confident, independent young adults. If you are lucky, you will have the opportunity to share the same pride and joy your parents are experiencing right now.

Some of you are agonizing over career choices. Trust me. You will figure out what to do. You are fortunate to be graduating when the job market and economy are strengthening. My advice is to be prepared to recognize opportunity when it walks up and hits you in the face. You will be astounded at what you will wind up doing, and even more amazed at what some of your classmates will end up doing.

Work is more than a way to earn a living. It is also a way to make a difference in the world, and to gain personal satisfaction from leading a meaningful life. Some of you are headed off to medical school, dental school, or vet school. You will soon discover that there are few greater thrills than healing the sick. Some of you will teach and discover the joys of mentoring a young person. Some of you will found companies and provide economic opportunity for others. Still others will write great books, make important scientific discoveries, or contribute to the arts.

A few of you may become famous. Most of you will not. However, you do not have to be famous to lead a meaningful life. All you need to do is help another person in a significant and meaningful way. The Talmud says that to save one life is to save the world. You can save a life or a soul in so many different ways – by helping an elderly friend or relative cope with the challenges and isolation that sometimes come with age; by taking a young person under your wing and offering them encouragement and support, just as others have done for you; by consistently being there for your friends in need; by taking an active role in trying to address important issues in your community. Find a way to serve and you will discover the true satisfaction from making a difference in the world.

I hope that the seeds for all of these great experiences have been planted here at Tufts, and that you will look back on your four years on this Hill with great fondness. But please, please, do not live as nostalgic alumni clinging to memories of your college years. Always look forward to new challenges, new opportunities, and future growth. May the best years of your life always be ahead of you.

To the parents and families assembled here, thank you for sharing these remarkable young people with us for these past four years. It has been our privilege as faculty and staff to live and learn together with them. You have raised them well. I hope we return them to you now more mature, confident, worldly, and well prepared to face and shape the world they will encounter.

To our graduates, be proud of your Tufts education and put it to good use wherever you go. Use your network of fellow Jumbos when you move to a new city or start a new job. Even off the Hill, Tufts is always there for you. You enter the large family of Tufts alumni tomorrow, and you will never find yourself alone.

And one final request – please stay in touch with us. Just because you are leaving, that does not mean that we stop caring. Just as your parents will always be your parents, we will never stop thinking of you as our students. We want to hear about your successes and challenges, and all those great moments in life that I just predicted that you would have. Your teachers and coaches and trainers and advisors, who have put so much of themselves into you these past four years, will always enjoy hearing from you.

Class of 2004, savor these last moments, but always look to tomorrow for new inspiration. Good luck and Godspeed.