哈佛新任校长Lawrence Bacow JD '76就职演讲

2018年10月5日下午，哈佛大学新任校长Lawrence Bacow在马萨诸塞州剑桥市的哈佛校园宣誓就职，成为哈佛历史上第29任校长。Lawrence Bacow本科毕业于MIT，在哈佛大学先后取得JD (法学博士)，MPP (公共政策硕士) 和PhD学位，曾担任MIT Chancellor和Tufts University校长。
哈佛大学校长的言行历来都受到社会各界的关注，因为他们的教育理念往往能够引领高等教育发展的潮流。在当今风起云涌的世界局势中，高等教育也受到了巨大挑战。在这次典礼上，Lawrence Bacow也给出了万众期待的就职演讲。在这次时长34分钟的演讲中，他又给世界传达了什么信息呢?

October 5, 2018
马萨诸塞州，美国
Lawrence Bacow
President of Harvard
I guess it’s 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。

It’s a great reminder 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 day to ensure that I had boundless opportunities. I would not be here today without the love of my wife, 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: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。如果没有我的妻子Adele和孩子们的爱和亲情，我今天就不会在这里。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。我们是一个大家庭，来自五湖四海，为了一个共同的革命目标，走到了一起。

I have been blessed, also, by inspiring teachers and mentors, three of whom I am honored 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Mark Moore, Richard Zeckhauser和Richard Light。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, 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 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 Bacow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 after the students found that his sermons dragged on too long - a great incentive for me to be brief today.
例如，Langdon总统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，1774–1780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 entire 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。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 Harvard’s most successful president, provoked an uproar now and then. He wanted to abolish hockey, basketball, and football, on the grounds that they required teamwork, 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总统，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. I’ll 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 nation’s oldest university, Harvard has helped to shape the American system of higher education, which is magnificent in its independence, sweep, and diversity.
我很荣幸能够领导哈佛这个伟大的组织，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 colleagues 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 America.
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贡献了什么?
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 institutions 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 would 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。
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渺的存在。
It’s worth remembering that most of the nation’s 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 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。