2018毕业演讲-耶鲁校长

耶鲁大学校长 Peter Salovey 在 2018 届毕业典礼上，发表了题为 Drawing a Larger Circle（画出人生更大圈子）的演讲： 

 2018 届的毕业生们、家长们和朋友们，很高兴与大家共同见证这个特别的日子。今天是喜悦的一天，未来则充满希望。 现在，我将履行耶鲁大学光荣的传统—— 请在座的所有家长和朋友们起立！向我们 2018 届优秀的毕业生们致意； 也请在座的 2018 届学子们起立，向所有成就你们达成今日里程碑的人们致敬！

 人们总是倾向于制定大量的计划——有些是实用性的计划，比如订航班，租房子，思考毕业后在哪里生活、工作或学习；还有一些是远大的抱负，展望未来的生活，以及未来几年筹划构筑的事业等等。 我想分享一下 Pauli Murray 在 1945 年写下的她的志向——那时，她还是一位年轻的律师和民权活动家。 “我要通过积极和包容的方式打破隔离，”Murray 写道： “当我的兄弟们试图画一个圈把我排除在外，我就画一个更大的圈来包容他们。他们为小团体的特权发言，而我为全人类争取权利。” 所以今天我想问大家：你会画多大的圈？ 你会画一个兼容并包、充满活力的圈？还是拉帮结派的团团伙伙？ ——要实现兼容并包很难，但未来的回报巨大！ 在你们即将离开校园之际，我建议大家参照 Pauli Murray 以及其他许多耶鲁毕业生的例子。

 首先，要确保你画的圈足够大！ 在当今世界，你可以在 Twitter 上拥有 700 位粉丝，还可以在 Facebook 上加 1000 个好友——看起来拥有一个很大的朋友圈并非难事。 然而，如果你所谓的“朋友”都在分享相同的体验、类似的观点，那么你的世界可能很窄！而与现实生活中六个朋友的一场谈话，却可能使你获得更丰富的想法和观点！ 我在耶鲁大学的这些年，幸运地得以认识世界上最聪明的头脑。 我也因此了解到最伟大的学者们画出的那些大圈子——他们博览群书，也对自己研究范围之外的想法颇感兴趣。 Robert Dahl 是一位在耶鲁大学任教四十年之久的政治学教授。因其在民主和民主制度研究中的权威，Dahl 教授堪称这个时代最受尊敬的政治学家之一。他也是一位深受学生喜爱的导师。 在 2014 年 Dahl 教授以 98 岁高龄仙逝之后，他教过的学生纷纷表达哀思。其中一位学生，Jeffrey Isaac 的学生回忆： 尽管自己非常喜欢 Dahl 教授的课，却强烈反对他的一些论点，并曾发表论文驳斥教授的理论。然而，令他惊讶的是，系里最支持他的老师就是 Dahl 教授！教授甚至同意担任他的论文导师。 Isaac 写道：“Dahl 教授花了无数时间在办公室里和我讨论论文的主要论点，以及我要驳斥的人——他自己！我们客观地讨论 ‘Dahl’ 这个人及其论点的局限性，并推测 ‘Dahl’ 会如何回应我的论点……” Dahl 教授就是这样欢迎他的批评者和倾听其意见，并与之展开交流——这正是一种开放且积极的研究精神和教学模式，也是耶鲁所追求的终极目标。 同样的情况也出现在校园之外。 气候变化、贫困、动荡和暴力，都是我们社会所面临的最大挑战。这需要创新和创造性的解决方案。然而，政治分化令这些问题比以往更加难处理。 因此，我们需要与不同政见者交谈，尽管我们并不同意其观点。 我们或许可以效仿 Dahl 教授以及许多智慧、通达的思想者们，画一个足够大的圈，以不断填充人类的认知。 我的第二条建议：尽你所能画更多的圈！ 其中的一个圈即你的工作——你不仅要确保自己喜欢它，还要确保它不是你生活中唯一的圈。 我们知道，幸福的源泉之一是培养工作之外的激情和专业。与他人分享这种激情，能给我们带来极大的喜悦，也能将我们与其他圈子的朋友和同事连接在一起——而这些人可能与我们平时遇到的人截然不同。 很多人知道，我对阿巴拉契亚山脉地区的音乐情有独钟。 我对传统乡村音乐和蓝草音乐的痴迷，牵引着我去往弗吉尼亚西南部和肯塔基州东部等地，担任国际蓝草音乐博物馆的董事，并且与蓝草音乐教授合奏贝斯长达 30 年之久。 我因此得以在夏季蓝草音乐节期间，与陌生人尽情地分享音乐和故事。 最重要的是，对音乐的热爱，使我建立了自己成长的故乡、学校以及我从事的心理学专业以外的友谊圈。 我为能成为一名心理学家而自豪，而我的学科也提供了许多实例，支撑我的阅历拓展。 Patricia Linville 是一位社会心理学家。她主要研究人们的自我认知，以及自我认知的影响。 在完成她自己命名的“自我复杂性”的研究期间，她正担任着我在耶鲁大学的导师。现在她任教于杜克大学。 根据 Linville 教授的说法，“自我复杂性”是一个比较宏大的概念，指某一个体的多面性。换言之，这一个体画了很多个圈子。 比如，一个女人可以视自己为学生、马拉松选手、戏剧爱好者、纽约客杂志读者，以及刚才提到的蓝草乐队的贝斯手——她可能比那些只视自己为律师的人，拥有更大的“自我复杂性”。 Linville 教授在其研究中发现，更大的“自我复杂性”可以作为消极经历的“缓冲器”——如果你全靠工作定义自己，那么一旦没得到提升，或许就对自我价值认知造成深重的打击——Linville 教授将其称为“把所有的鸡蛋放在同一个认知的篮子里”。 而像我刚才提到的跑马拉松的吉他手，在遇到挫折后可能恢复得更快。 Linville 教授甚至发现，“自我复杂性”更大的大学生，患抑郁等精神疾病的比例更低。

 最后，扩大圈子的重要途径：结识更多人并与之互动！ 这里我仍然想谈谈 Pauli Murray。 Murray 的上千封信件，折射出她丰富的生活。 在耶鲁大学法学院学习期间，Pauli Murray 收到了一封来信，来自耶鲁 1936 届校友 Bill Beinecke——现在这名字或许听起来很熟吧——“贝尼克珍本与手稿图书馆 (Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library)”正是因他的父亲和两个叔叔命名的，耶鲁的许多项目也获益于该家族了不起的慈善贡献。 上个月，Bill Beinecke 去世，享年 104 岁。1963 年致信 Murray 时，他是 Sperry and Hutchison 公司的董事长，那是一家由其祖父创立的美国企业，你们的父母或祖父母可能还记得它发行的绿色邮票。 Beinecke 先生作为这家美国企业的领导者，是一位富有的强者。在耶鲁的一次会议活动中，他偶遇 Pauli Murray，并在不久之后给她写了封信，就自己在《时代》杂志发表的关于美国种族关系文章，征询她的看法。 Pauli Murray 给他回信了。几周后，他又给她发了一篇学校融合的文章，仍然询问她的意见。她再次回复了——这四页纸、单行距的回信，被 Murray 称为“不可估量的种族问题”。 就这样，他们的通信持续了几个星期。双方观点都很有趣且坦率。Beinecke 和 Murray，这两位耶鲁传统的典范，尽管在性别、家庭背景、种族、阶级等诸多方面存在差异，却保持了对话。 我们无从得知他们是否完全认同对方，但可以想见的是，他们从交流中获益良多！而这完全是因为他俩决定超越自己日常的圈子。 Beinecke 决定给 Murray 写信，绝非一时头脑发热。 在 1950 年代，Beinecke 于耶鲁法学院参加过一场有关美国种族关系的讨论。 不久后他决定参与 Sperry and Hutchinson 公司的招聘，从而了解到职业中介在推荐人才时，竟将非洲裔美国人排除在外！Beinecke 决定结束这一做法。 Beinecke 还支持为来自底层的高中生提供奖学金，并在耶鲁法学院为有色人种设立奖学金。在开展这项工作的过程中，他遇到了 Murray 并由此展开他们之间的通信，期翼弥合两人的经历鸿沟…… Bill Beinecke 的人生，由许多不同的圈子组成——他领导改善纽约中央公园，支持环保事业，热衷高尔夫运动，保持着耶鲁某项学生体育活动的冠军记录，还有许多其他的人生兴趣。 那么，在年轻的 Pauli Murray 教授决定在其生命中画一个更大的圈之后，又发生了什么呢？ ——在她最后一次致信给 Bill Beinecke 仅一个月后，她组织并参与了那场著名的华盛顿游行。在取得耶鲁法学博士学位后，她起草了一份有影响力的法律备忘录，力促在1964 年《民权法案》中纳入基于性别的保护。 ——Murray 生命的圈子，还包括写诗和教学。 ——67 岁时，她又成为第一位被任命为圣公会牧师的非裔美国妇女，继续她终生致力于的和解与理解事业。 扩大我们的圈子并非易事！ 这当然需要勇气，还需要对生活的想象力和好奇心，拒绝恐惧和怀疑，要求我们互相倾听，量度人性的边界。 正因为 Pauli Murray 和 Bill Beinecke 都画了很多很大的圈，才使其人生相交。 我希望你们也能如此——尽可能多画圈，并使之足够大。你们就会发现，生活因此更为丰富、充实和有意义，将因此为世界带来我们亟需的同理心和理解！ 2018 届的毕业生们，请起立！ 现在，整个世界在你们面前，请携手漫步向前，为世界带去你们在耶鲁教育中获得的一切： 虚心聆听，批判地参与，创造性地应对挑战和难关，在寻求幸福的同时接受你的责任，画一个更广阔的圈包容和理解这个世界！ 我们很荣幸见证了这一刻，并为你们的成绩感到骄傲。 请记得向所有成就你们走到今日的人表达谢意！ 请带着感恩的心从这里出发，依靠你们的思想、声音和双手改善你们新的社区和世界，这将是你们对母校最好的回赠。 2018 届全体毕业生，祝贺你们！ Graduates of the Class of 2018, family members, and friends: It is a pleasure to be here with you today, a day filled with joy for the present and hope for the future. These are the months and years when people tend to make a lot of plans. Some are practical: you schedule flights and rent apartments and consider where you will live, work, or study after graduation. Others are more aspirational: you imagine your future life and what you wish to accomplish in the years ahead. I want to begin by sharing a passage Pauli Murraywrote in 1945 about heraspirations. At the time, she was a young lawyer and civil rights activist. “I intend to destroysegregation by positive and embracing methods,” Murray wrote. “When my brotherstry to draw a circle to exclude me, I shall draw a larger circle to include them. Where they speak out for the privileges of a puny group, I shall shout for the rights of all mankind.” So today I ask you: How large will you draw your circle? Will you draw a circle that is large, inclusive, and vibrant? Or will it be small,“puny,” and privileged? The work of inclusion is difficult, but the rewards are great. Let me suggest ways you might follow the example of Pauli Murray - and many other Yale graduates - when you leave this campus. First, make sure your circles are truly large. In today’s world, where you can have 700 followers on Twitter and a thousand friends on Facebook - it may seem easy to have a large circle. But if you’re bombarded with the same stories, memes, and opinions from all your so-called friends, then your world may in fact be quite narrow. A conversation with six friends in real life actually may lead to a greater variety of ideas and perspectives! In my years at Yale, I have been privileged to know some of the most brilliant minds in the world. I have learned that the greatest scholars draw large circles. They read widely and are interested in ideas well beyond the scope of their own research and beliefs. Robert Dahl, who was a Sterling Professor of Political Science, taught at Yale for forty years. One of the most respected political scientists of his generation, Professor Dahl was an authority on democracy and democratic institutions. And he was a beloved teacher and mentor. After his death in 2014 at the age of 98, tributes from his former students poured in. One of his graduate students, Jeffrey Isaac, recalled how he vehemently disagreed with some of Dahl’s arguments, even though he loved taking his classes. For his dissertation, Isaac proposed writing a critique of Dahl’s theories. Much to his surprise, the most enthusiastic and supportive faculty member in the department was Dahl himself ! He agreed to supervise the dissertation. Isaac wrote, “Bob Dahl spent countless hours in his office talking with me about my principal theoretical antagonist - him! We would discuss this guy ‘Dahl’ in the third person, considering the limits of his arguments, speculating about how he might respond to my arguments.” Professor Dahl embraced his critics, listened to them, and conversed with them, a model of open and engaged scholarship and teaching - the best we can aspire to at Yale. The lesson extends beyond our campus. Our greatest challenges as a society - climate change, poverty, insecurity, and violence - demand innovative and creative solutions. Yet political polarizationis making it more difficult than ever to solve these problems. We must be able to talk with our opponents even though we disagree with them. We might start by emulating Professor Dahl - and so many other wise and generous thinkers who have drawn large circles and so added to the sum of human understanding. My second piece of advice - and here I am taking some liberties with the metaphor - is to draw as many circles as you can. One circle will be your work. Make sure you enjoy it, but make sure you have othercircles as well. We know one of the keys to happiness is developing a passion - even an expertise - outside of work. Sharing that passion with others gives us great joy,and it connects us to other circles of friends and associates who might be very different from the ones we would meet otherwise. As many of you are aware, I am quite passionate about music from the Appalachia Mountain region. My love of traditional country and bluegrass music has allowed me to visit places such as south west Virginia and eastern Kentucky, to chair the board of the International Bluegrass Music Museum, and to play bass - for thirty years now - with the Professors of Bluegrass. It enables me to share stories and songs with perfect strangers at summer time bluegrass festivals. Most significantly, though, it has led to circles of friendship beyond the towns in which I grew up, beyond the universities Iattended, and beyond my profession of psychology. Patricia Linville is a social psychologist who studies how people think of themselves and how these self-perceptions influence well-being. She is now at Duke, but she was my teacher here at Yale when she completed several studies of what she terms “self-complexity.” Greater “self-complexity,”according to Linville, means a person has a variety of aspects to his or her self. In other words, he or she draws many circles. For example, a woman who thinks of herself as a student, a marathon runner, atheater-goer, a reader of the New Yorker magazine, and - let’s say - a bass playerin a bluegrass band would demonstrate greater self-complexity than someone who thinks of himself only as a lawyer. Professor Linville, in her research, found that greater self-complexity acts as a“buffer” against negative experiences. For example, if you define yourself almost entirely in terms of your job, getting passed over for a promotion might be devastating for your sense of self-worth. Linville calls this “putting all your eggs in one cognitive basket.” People such as our marathon-running bass player, on the other hand, bounce back more quickly after a setback. Linville even found that college students with greaterself-complexity were less likely to get sick or experience depression or stress. Third and finally, let me suggest one important way we can expand our circles - by reaching out and engaging with others. Here I would like to turn again to Pauli Murray and one of her more surprising relationships. Murray’s papers contain thousands of letters - a reflection of afull life, animated by many interests, commitments, and relationships. A life of many circles. During her time at Yale Law School, Murray received a letter from Bill Beinecke, a member of the Yale College Class of 1936. Now the name will sound familiar to everyone here. The Beinecke Rare Book & Manu Library is named for William’s father and two uncles, and many other programs and places at Yale have benefited from the family’s remarkable philanthropy. Bill Beinecke passed away just last month; he was nearly 104 years old. In 1963 when he wrote Murray, he was chairman of the Sperry and Hutchison Company, a venerable American company founded by his grandfather. Beinecke was a leader in corporate America and a wealthy and powerful man. He had met Murray at an event at Yale, and not long after that meeting, he wrote her a letter. He enclosed a clipping from Time magazine about race relations in the United States and asked what she thought. Murray responded. A few weeks later he sent her another article and asked her opinion again, this time about school integration. She wrote back. Their correspondence continued for several weeks, with interesting and frank letters on both sides. Beinecke and Murray - both exemplars of the Yale tradition - were able to sustain a conversation despite differences in gender, family background, race, class, andmore. We don’t know whether or not they entirely agreed with one another, but we can imagine they learned a lot from the exchange. - All because two individuals decided to reach beyond their normal circles. Beinecke’s decision to write Murray did not take place in a vacuum. In the 1950s, he attended a discussion at Yale Law School on the topic of American race relations. Not long after, he decided to look into Sperry and Hutchinson’s hiring practices. He learned that the employment agency vetting applicants for his company wasscreening out African Americans, removing them from the pool before their applications ever reached Sperry & Hutchinson. Beinecke ended the practice. He also supported scholarships for under privileged high school students and established a fellowship for students of color at Yale Law School. It was in the course of this work that he met Murray and initiated their correspondence, hoping to bridge the gulf that separated his experience from hers. Bill Beinecke’s life was made up of many different circles. He led efforts toimprove New York’s Central Park, he supported environmental causes, he was dedicated to the game of golf, and he remained an ardent champion of Yale andits students, among other interests. And what about Pauli Murray, who as a young person promised to “draw a largercircle” in her life? One month after writing her last letter to Bill Beinecke, she participated in the historic March on Washington, which she helped organize. While finishing her doctor of jurisprudence degree here at Yale, she drafted an influential legal memo, helping to ensure that “sex” was included inthe Civil Rights Act of 1964. Murray’s other circles included writing poetry and teaching. At the age of 67, she became the first African-American woman ordained as an Episcopal priest, continuing her lifelong commitment to reconciliation and understanding. Enlarging our circles is far from easy. It requires courage, surely, but also imaginationand curiosity about our fellow human beings. It rejects fear and suspicion. It demands that we listen to one another. It measures the limits of our humanity. Both Pauli Murray and Bill Beinecke drew such large circles - and so many circles - that their lives intersected. I urge you to do the same. Draw many circles; make them large in all kinds of ways. You will find life richer, fuller, and more meaningful, and you will bring to the world the empathy and understanding we so desperately need. Members of the Class of 2018 (please rise): As you go out on to a “world [that is] all before [you]…hand in hand with wandering steps and slow,”bring to that world all that your Yale education has given you: the ability to engage critically even while listening respectfully,to respond creatively to challenges and obstacles; to embrace your responsibilities while finding happiness, and to draw ever wider the circle of belonging and understanding in this world. We are delighted to salute your accomplishments, and we are proud of your achievements. Remember to give thanks for all that has brought you to this day. And go forth from this place with grateful hearts, paying back the gifts you have received here by using your minds, voices, and hands to strengthen your new communities and your world. Congratulations, Class of 2018!