With higher education “facing significant headwinds,” Penn’s Class of 2029 is called upon to unite.
“You didn’t choose Penn because you imagined that you could avoid engaging with perspectives and opinions different from your own. Or because you assumed that what you take for granted about the world would never be tested or challenged. Or because you longed for homogeneity in your social network and intellectual pursuits.”
So said Penn Provost John L. Jackson Jr. during his remarks to the Class of 2029 at August’s Convocation ceremony at Franklin Field, formally beginning the University’s 286th academic year.
“If anything,” Jackson continued, “Penn should have stood out because it attracts so many different kinds of learners and teachers and researchers from all over the country and the world.”
As he welcomed first-year and transfer students, Jackson acknowledged that American colleges and universities are “facing significant headwinds” with many “questioning the very purpose and mission of academic institutions.” But he urged the University’s newest citizens to embrace the “distinct opportunities that Penn has to offer.”
“Aside from being Provost, I’m an anthropologist,” he said. “And I would argue, anthropologically speaking, that at a certain fundamental level, human beings need and crave difference, even if it sometimes scares us—because that is how we learn and grow.
“My hope for you over these next four years is straightforward: that you will come to view your Penn education not as a destination, but as an exceptionally robust launching pad.”
Penn President J. Larry Jameson opened his speech by harkening back to his own college days, before which he spent a summer camping in national parks and encountered in the Great Smoky Mountains a species of fireflies called Photinus carolinus. Known for their synchronous flashing, those fireflies boast several qualities that Jameson said he hopes the 2,249 students that make up the Class of 2029 will share:
• Illumination. “At Penn,” Jameson said, “you will have countless resources and opportunities to shine.”
• Connection. “Over the next several years, you will form bonds that will shape your life.”
• Purpose. “Embrace the unexpected. That is a key purpose of all Penn people.”
“Most fireflies blink individually, but these blink together,” Jameson said. “This is the potential I see in all of you. You each have your own rhythm and brilliance, but together you are capable of something extraordinary. At Penn, that coming together is one of our greatest strengths. We solve problems not by working alone, but by syncing up—across disciplines, backgrounds, and ideas. Collaboration is not just encouraged—it is our superpower.”
In his invocation, Charles “Chaz” Howard C’00, the University chaplain and vice president for social equity and community, also struck on the theme of community—with a metaphor about freshmen moving away from their childhood homes and into their dorms.
“These are heavy times,” Howard said. “No one should have to carry it all on their own. Moving can be exhausting, confusing, frightening, painful, seemingly impossible. But when more than one person helps with the lifting, some amazing things can happen.” —DZ
