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About Lehigh > President Alice P. Gast > Speeches and Writings > University Convocation

 

University Convocation - August 27, 2006
Address to the Class of 2010
Alice P. Gast

First, let me once again welcome each and every one of you to Lehigh University – this time in a more formal setting. Today at this convocation, you officially become a member of the Class of 2010. You are here because you made a choice—and a very wise one—to pursue your education at this great institution.

I am sure there are many things about Lehigh that attracted you here. One of the things that drew me to Lehigh was the university’s clear and unwavering focus on students. At Lehigh, our loyal alumni, outstanding faculty, and dedicated administrators are all equally and wholeheartedly committed to undergraduate excellence. We are dedicated to making your years here at Lehigh as productive, rich, and valuable as possible. We are here because of you and for you.

The other thing that I find very compelling about Lehigh is its focus on balanced education as a core value. The founder of Lehigh University, Asa Packer, set forth an enduring vision for the university. He founded Lehigh in 1865 with the goal of blending classical and technical education. We provide this today: a balance of fundamental and practical, a combination of theory and experiment, courses using the left and right sides of your brain. You came to the right place to get an education that will equip you to lead in today’s changing world.

Lehigh’s quality of education and its dedication to each student are among the reasons why it is one of the most desirable universities in the country. You, the class of 2010, are one of the most selective classes admitted to Lehigh so far. So realize how highly regarded you are here at Lehigh and use this respect as inspiration to work even harder. Lehigh chose you because we believe in you as students, as scholars, and as individuals. You, class of 2010, are going to be great.

In Lehigh, you have chosen a university that is small enough to meet fellow students and really get to know them. I think that’s one of the reasons that so many friendships forged in the classrooms, residence halls, studios, athletic fields, and fraternities and sororities here last a lifetime. And the classes are small enough that you’ll never be just a name on a seating chart to a professor. You will be a person, a student, an individual who will be carefully mentored, not just taught. In some way, the people you meet at Lehigh will influence every day of your life from this moment forward. A faculty member may change your life by helping you uncover your passion. A coach may inspire you to work with kids. The person sitting in front of you or next to you may someday be your business partner, your best friend … or even your life partner.

Many Lehigh alumni have been deeply touched and transformed by their experiences here. Just yesterday, your class was officially adopted by the class of 1960, building a bridge across a half-century of distinguished Lehigh alumni. At that rally, you were able to see for yourselves how truly special and strong the bond between alumni is. Wasn’t it awesome?

Lehigh alums excel at defining and solving problems--they are known for their success in a wide variety of professions. You, too, will leave here able to define and solve problems from a variety of perspectives, thanks to the balanced and broad education you will receive.

As you have heard many times – from parents, friends, alumni – many of us look upon our college days as the best days of our lives. Why is that? What is so special about these few years? Why are these times the good times?

Today I want to take a few moments to share my thoughts on the choices and opportunities ahead of you in your years at Lehigh. These university experiences provide the foundation for relationships and directions for the rest of your lives. Let’s make these the good times.

I will touch on three main themes:

1. Your transition to college life and the new freedom and responsibility that brings
2. Finding your passion and pushing yourself to pursue it
3. Building relationships that will last a lifetime.

First, your transition to college life and the new freedom and responsibility that comes with it:
In the past week, most of you have moved to a new home, leaving behind the home you’ve known and loved. Some of you went from having your own room to living in close proximity to many people your own age — people of all different backgrounds and cultures. I’m sure you have all felt at least a fleeting moment of hesitation, shyness, or anxiety — completely normal reactions to adjusting to your new community here at Lehigh.

This is an important part of your journey. Most of you probably have a close circle of family and friends back home, people you love, trust and rely on for support. In the coming weeks and months, as you meet students from different regions, cultures, and countries, you will find that circle growing broader and more diverse. You’ll find that you can seek advice and comfort from fellow students, professors, mentors, and coaches, to name just a few.

Being new to Lehigh myself, I feel a special bond with you, the class of 2010. Like you, I just recently finished unpacking my boxes and exploring the campus with my husband, Brad, and our children, Rebecca and David. We too are getting to know a whole community of wonderful people and adjusting to leaving some close friends behind.

Perhaps, like us, you have had a chance to check out the eclectic south side of Bethlehem and the various coffee shops, ethnic restaurants, and music venues it has to offer. Hopefully, like my family, you will accept the challenge of trying each of the ice cream flavors at “The Cup.” My kids are tracking our family’s ice cream ratings; watch for our blog – we will want your input – we want to see if you like maple walnut as much as we do.

As I continue to adjust to my new life on campus, I can’t help but remember my own freshman move-in experience when I started at USC. I remember the combination of excitement and trepidation that swirled through my head. I was excited about all the classes I had signed up for, all the new people I was meeting and all the fun activities that filled our first days. I was nervous about how it would all go, I was unsure about my abilities – everyone seemed so sure of themselves. I was getting used to living in a quad with three very very different roommates.

At USC, I was faced with the same exciting new combination of freedom and opportunity. But I’ll admit that in some ways, things were simpler when I was an undergraduate. For instance, there were no cell phones, text messages, or email. We even listened to music on vinyl LPs! We shared one phone in my quad (and long distance calls were expensive) and there was an unwritten college rule that if your parents called while you were out, your roommates would always tell them you were at the library, no matter where you were. I’m sure you’ve heard these stories before.

In this wireless era, your parents are accustomed being able to get in touch with you in seconds, no matter where you are. In many ways, the wireless era has been a good thing for student/parent relationships. In fact, research shows that by using cell phones, email, text messaging, and instant messaging, parents and their sons and daughters are in much closer touch than ever before. I think that this is great. I am sure that many of you have heard from your parents a few times since they drove off late last week.

This connectivity makes balancing freedom and responsibility and gaining independence all the more important. Your evolution from that constant contact with family and friends back home is up to you. I also spoke with your parents about this same point on Thursday. This is your time to explore Lehigh, explore all of the opportunities, possible career paths, and to explore yourselves. As you find your circle of friends changing, as you meet new mentors and learn from new people, you will find your text and IM friends changing and your calls home less frequent. So don’t feel too tied to phone. The more time you spend growing and learning while you are here, the more enriched you will be when you graduate four years from now. And, you can always remind your parents that you had to turn off your phone because you were in the library….

While you are here, you will be treated with respect, honesty, integrity, and civility — key values of the Lehigh community. In return, we ask that you exhibit the same virtues in your academic life, your social life, and in your actions on and off campus. To live up to Lehigh’s expectations, you have to hold yourselves in the same high regard.

I suspect that most of you have been waiting with eager anticipation for the freedom that comes with being a college student. Of course, you know that with freedom comes responsibility. Making good decisions is the key to success in school and in life. Over the next four years, you will make many choices in both the academic and personal dimensions of your life. I hope that you will use this time to explore, examine and experience Lehigh to the fullest. As you do, please remember that we expect you to be good citizens of the academic community – to know right from wrong, helpful from hurtful. Making the right choices in what you say and do can be difficult at times but it is an important life skill and will enrich your experience and make Lehigh a better place.

Of course, we all make mistakes now and then. When that happens, I expect each member of the Lehigh family – student, faculty or staff – to accept responsibility for his or her behavior, to make amends as appropriate and to take whatever steps are necessary to learn from the experience. In so doing, we honor the privilege of membership in this community.

You will enjoy and celebrate some of your good decisions… and you will regret and learn valuable lessons from others that may have seemed like a good idea at the time. If you do make a decision that you later regret or realize was less than wise—whether it is academic, social, or personal in nature–Dr. Smeaton’s staff, the Gryphons and other staff, faculty and students here at Lehigh are well trained and available to help you solve the problem and to make a better decision the next time around. Just as we all pitched in to help you move into the residence halls, the whole Lehigh family is here to help you when you need it.

Second, find your passion and push yourself to pursue it. Find out what you love to do and do it. We all thrive if we are doing something we love. We will excel if we wake up every day and have a passion for our work. Your four years here will set a strong foundation for this. Believe me…you can wake up every day and be glad to be going to class, or be excited about going to work.

Make sure that the major you choose is right for you. Don’t decide to pursue a degree because others told you to. Don’t do it because Business Week made it sound lucrative. Do it because you love it. And if you find that you’ve chosen a major that’s not right for you, we will work with you to find what is right for you.

Follow your heart and your interests and your talents and seek the courses, teachers and scholarly activities that excite you. When you do, you will find success in life.

This may be a hard task. You likely have many interests and may not be sure what you want to do with your life. Lehigh is a place where you can explore those interests, talk to faculty whose work you admire, read works that interest you, have discussions with your fellow students. Just remember to find your passion and pursue it.

As you find your passion, you will want to put your full effort into it. There will be hard work. Late nights at the library, long hours of reading, writing, solving problems…

There will be courses that are required of you and they are not exactly your passion. Remember that you are learning the approaches to defining and solving problems from a variety of scholarly disciplines. Value the effort and enjoy how it stretches you.

For many of you there will be long hard workouts or extra rehearsals and practice sessions. You should also push yourself to do things you might be less sure of. Try out for that play, pick up your musical instrument again and practice, play intramural sports, tutor kids in our neighborhood. Whatever it is you do, you will greatly broaden your horizons, learn important things and enjoy yourself.

With your freedom and independence comes the responsibility to make good choices and to use your time well. Managing time is very hard these days. Don’t we all know how computers have saved us so much time and yet we manage to waste lots of time getting lost in an endless Google search or in late night chats. Find ways to balance work and recreation. Finding this balance is a crucial life skill you will carry far into the future.

As I mentioned before, you have an unprecedented ability to communicate with others – you IM, text and call people. Now you are living on a beautiful campus with lots of bright, interesting people. Now you have a chance to meet and hang with great new friends. The thing is, you can put away the electronics and spend time in person! Sure, you can text a friend to say that you have finished your lab and want to meet at the Hawk’s Nest, but it is the time you spend with friends that will be most valuable to you.

Pursue your interests, join some new groups, get to know people who are different from you. Although your classmates share the gift of exceptional academic talent, they come from a variety of backgrounds. Have the courage to step out of your comfort zone and discover the perspectives and insights of those whose life story is different from your own. There is a great diversity of wonderful people, perhaps some are a bit shy, but they merit your personal time and attention.

I’d also like to add a few words about safety.

Be safe. Although Lehigh’s charming campus has a cozy feel, it is not surrounded by protective walls. Safety is a shared responsibility, so at night, walk in groups whenever you can. When you can’t, use Lehigh’s escort service. Lock your residences. I guess you have to or an alarm sounds. Awareness and common sense precautions are important means to promote personal safety.

There are also choices you will need to make about being healthy and safe. These choices about your health and safety can range from making sure that you get enough sleep to learning how to manage stress and how to relax. We are all tempted to sometimes take unwise shortcuts – like using too much caffeine to stay awake and alcohol to relax. You'll need to make choices about staying healthy, being safe, and following the rules, of Lehigh's community and the world outside. We are here to help you make the right choices.

When I spoke to your parents on Thursday, I was struck by their tremendous pride in you and their genuine love and affection. It was hard for them to drive away from here launching you on this new phase of your lives. I assured them that their sons and daughters were in good hands and that we were here to help you toward rewarding lives full of good decision making and confidence. I also assure you that we are here for you and I urge you to seek the help of our excellent faculty, staff and students whenever you waiver.

Finally, on this eve of the first day of classes, I must tell you: As I was getting settled in my new Lehigh home, I found the busy schedule of my new job and my new colleagues comforting. I suspect you will feel the same way as you adjust to your first schedule of classes this week.

You are an exceptional group of young scholars with so much promise — that’s why you are sitting here today. So, please make the most of your new life here. Find your passion. Enjoy your freedoms and build new relationships. Make these the greatest of times.