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Brodhead to the Class of 2016: The Challenges Ahead of You

Duke president advises new students on the many opportunities that await them

President Richard H. Brodhead addresses the Class of 2016 Wednesday.  Photo by Megan Morr/Duke University Photography
President Richard H. Brodhead addresses the Class of 2016 Wednesday. Photo by Megan Morr/Duke University Photography

First, a word for the parents of the Class of 2016. I feel for you on this emotion-laden day. You must be so relieved: your child got into one of the world's great universities. You must be so proud: look at that shining specimen -- what a kid you've had the privilege of raising. Plus you must be so sad: in minutes, this person who has depended on you since birth is going to leave you. And you must be so anxious: what is this place you're entrusting your child to? 

You may think that I'm about to console you, but I am here to tell you, the truth is even worse than you imagine. Many parents have reported that after spending a few days at home during Duke vacations, sons and daughters have said things like, "It's been great being back with the family, but I'm just about ready to go home." Your child is not just going away from home. Someplace else is about to become their home, the place where they deeply belong. Grief counselors, please assume your stations.

Now to the students.  Friends of the Class of 2016, this change may not happen on the first day. Indeed you may have spasms of loneliness and self-doubt, moments of wondering, will I ever figure this place out, and will I ever fit in? But do you actually believe that you are the only person feeling these things? Behind the masks of smiling well-adjustedness you are all so skilled at mounting, you're probably all feeling them in some measure, and why would you not? These are the emotions of transition, felt when crossing into the unknown.

But I promise, like the thousands who came before you, you will find friends and mentors and pleasures and challenges the likes of which you have never known here, and, stimulated and surrounded by them, you will grow and flourish in extraordinary ways. That's what a home is: a place that fosters personal development. And home is what Duke will be to every single one of you -- if not tomorrow, then soon enough.

But let's bear down a little on this moment in between. You have arrived here, but you're not inside yet. In short, you stand at the threshold. As your leader and guide, I would say four things to you at this threshold crossing.

First, the door of Duke stands open wide.

Second, through that door is a bounty of discovery, everything that can build human power and understanding.

Third, that bounty is for you: Duke's riches exist so that you will use them.

But fourth, you have to do something to seize this bounty. You have to walk through the open door.

Let me unpack these somewhat oracular pronouncements.

First, I wonder if you have any concept how lucky you are. Around the world, higher education is recognized as the key to advancement, the thing that lets individuals live up to their full potential and societies to develop the human capital they need to thrive. And here you are, having won the prize so many strive for. Thanks to your talent and hard work, you have gained admission to a great university. Of course, this access wasn't your achievement alone. The courage and struggle of men and women during the Civil Rights Movement helped open the door: fifty years ago this year, Duke led private universities in the segregated south in opening its doors to black undergraduates. Subsequently and through the work of many, Duke has opened its door to students of every background and economic circumstance around the globe. For all these reasons, the door is open. That's what admission means.

Second, Duke's door opens onto infinite opportunities. There's nothing you can't study on this campus and little humans have ever attempted that you can't find going on here at some high level of excellence. Plus going to Duke enables you to go through Duke to learning opportunities around the world. I've seen Pratt students putting engineering knowledge to use building clean water projects and fixing broken medical equipment in Tanzania and Uganda. I've watched rising entrepreneurs be mentored by Duke alums in Silicon Valley. I've seen Duke students addressing community health and K-12 education challenges in this city and across this land. I've known Duke breakdancers who were invited to China to perform. And since we've taken pains to assemble talented people of every origin and persuasion to be your companions, every single interaction here, even riding the bus or eating lunch, is a chance to learn the living variety of the modern world and how you can thrive in it.

Third, opportunities are not just abundant at Duke; these opportunities are there for you. Duke is different from other great universities in a number of ways. Among others, it's very friendly; it's highly tolerant of innovation; and it's unusually willing to include any interested person in a community of activity or inquiry regardless of their official standing. Each year, a Duke undergraduate is elected as a voting member of the Board of Trustees. Why? Because students have good ideas and valuable perspectives. Freshmen have joined teams doing the most cutting-edge biomedical research. (I met one last week.) How did they pull that off? They went and asked.

You won't find a lot of Keep Out signs at Duke. We not only tolerate your participation, we welcome and expect it. But to get the benefit of all that I describe, there's something you have to do, and only you can do it. You have to throw yourself into this place, you have to reach out and seize the opportunities that will surround you. You won't reap Duke's bounty if you don't take some initiative. This summer, a faculty member took six Duke students to participate in the Large Hadron Collider experiment in Switzerland. That would be a cool thing to have happen while you're an undergraduate:  detecting the Higgs boson, newest known constituent of the physical world!  But you can't just sit in your room hoping to be invited: the professor asked them because they had showed their interest. As for all those intriguing people it would be so much fun to have as friends and who, incidentally, who could help you learn other ways to think about every important question? They won't educate you (or you them) if you don't start the conversation. The door is wide open -- now you have to walk through it.

My friends, last year you faced what appeared to be greatest existential challenge human life might ever hold: you had to prove yourself by getting into college. Seems a little high schoolish now, does it not? Now you could face a more interesting challenge: what do you want to make of yourself? And how can you fashion yourself into the person who can deliver the best return on the talents that you alone were uniquely afforded? We can help you build answers to these questions, if you exploit Duke as a place of discovery. Even the best portals are only good if you enter and start navigating them, pursuing what you know you want but also finding your way to sites you little suspected.

It works online; it will definitely work at Duke. You won admission. The door is open wide. Come in and enjoy it. Come take the great new life you've earned.