Address by Harvard President Larry Bacow in a Virtual Ceremony Honoring the Class of 2021
May 27, 2021
哈佛大学校长拉里·巴科在2021届线上毕业典礼的演讲
2021年5月27日
Greetings from Massachusetts Hall. This is where I used to come to work. Actually, I haven’t done that for 440 days now and counting – but who’s counting?
This building – the oldest on campus – has been part of the Yard since 1720. If it could talk, it would tell tales of George Washington and the troops he quartered here during the Revolutionary War; tales of John Adams hurrying in and out as a young man, carefully scribbling the day’s weather in his diary; tales of the handful of you who called its fourth floor home as first-year students.
This building is a testament to the strength and resilience of Harvard and its people. Brick by beautiful brick, it was built by individuals who did not yet dream of a United States of America – people who could not yet dream of the University into which you entered as students – from across the country and across the world, with circumstances and experiences as varied as your extraordinary achievements.
Welcome, members of the Harvard Class of 2021 – and congratulations.
欢迎，2021届哈佛学子——祝贺你们。
You are on the brink of joining one of the world’s most accomplished communities of alumni, a community that for nearly four hundred years has connected “the age that is past to the age that is waiting before.”
你即将加入世界上最有成就的校友群之一，近四百年来，这个群体将“过去的时代与未来的时代”联系在一起。
That line – from our alma mater – puts the vexing present into a more welcome context. This, too, shall pass.
来自我们母校的这句话将今天的烦恼变成一个希望的过程。一切都将过去。
A global pandemic has kept us apart this year, but we’ve learned together; we’ve grown together; and we have overcome together.
一场全球疫情将我们分隔，但我们一起学习；我们一起成长；我们一起战胜挑战。
I’ve never seen such grit, such determination. And I’ve never – ever – been prouder of this institution.
我从未见过如此坚韧、如此坚定的你们。我为我们的学校感到由衷的自豪。
So, while this is not the moment you imagined when you began your course of study, take a moment to appreciate all that this age has actually given you:
所以，虽然这不是你们入学时想象的时刻，但请花点时间感谢这个时代给你的一切：
No Commencement tickets, everyone could come – no parking drama. And let’s face it, zero percent chance of rain.
没有毕业典礼入场券，但每个人都可以来参加——不用担心找车位。还有一点，肯定不用担心下雨。
Front-row seats for everyone you love – and everyone who loves you.
你爱的每个人——以及所有爱你的人都可以坐到前排位置。
And well-deserved hoots and hugs and hollers and high fives as your degree is actually conferred.
当被授予学位时，你们可以欢呼，拥抱，击掌，大笑。
One day, you will celebrate your graduation on campus with classmates and friends in familiar places – and that day cannot come soon enough. For now, however, delight in the company of those who’ve cheered you on and cheered you up, those who’ve urged determination in the face of disenchantment, those who’ve supplanted languish with levity – with hope – with joy, those who’ve sacrificed so much so you can be here.
One of a number of things that is unusual about this celebration is that many of you are actually sitting right now next to your families and loved ones, people who’ve in some cases become your unexpected suitemates over the course of this past year. No one accomplishes anything in life on his or her own. Your loved ones have nurtured and supported you on this journey that has led you to this day. I want you to actually take a minute now and thank them for all that they’ve done to get you to this moment. Go ahead, give them a hug of thanks. They deserve it. And now we’ll pause while you do that.
I hope you will delight, too, in the colossal feat of your arrival. Consider the days – the months – the years – of relentless effort, in some cases, of stunning failure but also thrilling triumph. Consider what you sacrificed – and what you gained. Consider who you were when you got here and who you are now as you leave, when it was that you most grew in knowledge and in wisdom – and where you will go from here.
This moment is meant for you and will be yours forever. Fair Harvard welcomes you at last into her storied company, and I send you into a new age on the wings of wishes born from familiar lyrics:
May you think freely – and bear patiently those who think differently.
May you quicken the currents of truth in every field and discipline – and hasten the world to better days.
May your destinies – like our beloved University’s – be onward and bright.
