University Convocation: President Simon's Address to Class of 2021

Class of 2021, welcome to Lehigh.

You are about to embark on a wonderful experience at a great institution. You’ve spent the past four days in the capable hands of your orientation leaders, immersed in all things Brown and White. It might feel overwhelming; you’ll all be seasoned veterans in no time.

It’s no secret that this is a challenging time in our nation’s history. Most of you know that I came to Lehigh from UVA and many in my family call Charlottesville their home. The recent events there reminded us, in stark terms, that hatred, rage, and violence are no substitute for meaningful dialogue. Universities have an important role to play in times like these; namely, to give voice to the next generation … to enable them to engage around contentious societal issues through peaceful means … and to work toward a more just society and a better world.

You are the next generation of whom I speak. It is your time to find your voice. I realize that not everyone is comfortable or feels equipped to speak up. So I have some pointers for you. I’ll preface this by making an important point that I want you all to remember: At Lehigh, we’ll help you learn how to think; we will never tell you what to think.

With that in mind, my first piece of advice is to anticipate differences of opinion. You will routinely come into contact with people who think differently from you – in the classroom, in your residence halls, at social gatherings, off campus in the South Bethlehem community. I’m not just talking about your fellow students – for example, you may find that some of your professors and staff members with whom you interact will have viewpoints that differ from your own. As Senator Charles Grassley put it, “There is no point in having a student body on campus if competing ideas are not exchanged and analyzed and respected by each other.”

My second piece of advice: Knowledge is the ultimate tool in your toolbox; get as much of it as you can. How can you do this? One way is to read.

I have been reading Pat Conroy’s books this summer and I quote from his novel Beach Music:

“The world of literature has everything in it, and it refuses to leave anything out. I have read like a man on fire my whole life because the genius of English teachers touched me with the dazzling beauty of language. Because of them I rode with Don Quixote and danced with Anna Karenina at a ball in St. Petersburg and lassoed a steer in ‘Lonesome Dove’ and had nightmares about slavery in ‘Beloved’ and walked the streets of Dublin in ‘Ulysses’ and made up a hundred stories in the Arabian nights and saw my mother killed by a baseball in ‘A Prayer for Owen Meany.’ I’ve been in ten thousand cities and have introduced myself to a hundred thousand strangers in my exuberant reading career, all because I listened to my fabulous English teachers and soaked up every single thing those magnificent men and women had to give. I cherish and praise them and thank them for finding me when I was a boy and presenting me with the precious gift of the English language.”

In the words of Owen Wister, who wrote The Virginian (the first critically recognized western fiction novel, and one I read this summer): “Forgive my asking you to use your mind. It is a thing which no novelist should expect of his reader...” College is a time for you to acquire knowledge and use your mind. Do both.

My third piece of advice: Be respectful of the other person’s opinion. The atmosphere will not always be happy, the tone of conversation will not always be friendly. It is how you conduct yourself in these situations that makes all the difference.

• Be open-minded. In the words of Isaac Asimov: “Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”
• Remember that it is okay to disagree.
• Be aware of the impact your words can have. When someone tells you that something you said hurt them, you don’t get to decide that it didn’t.
• Honor confidentiality. If someone takes you into their confidence, don’t betray that trust.
• Listen, really listen, to what the other person has to say.  You will learn not only from your professors and textbooks, but from each other, and this learning process starts with respecting one another’s opinions.  Listen to the experiences shared by your classmates who came to Lehigh from another part of the world or the country, who have different life experiences from your own. Listen to and learn from each other.

My fourth and final piece of advice: Use a little humor. The subject matter may be serious, but the right laugh line at the right time could be just the thing to defuse a potential argument. As G.K. Chesterton said, “Humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle.”   

So I return to my opening words: Universities give voice to the next generation – that’s you. I urge you all: Speak up and speak out. Question things, offer your ideas, let your voice be heard.

A final word about this city you will call home for the next four years. Lehigh University is not an island unto itself; we are part of the fabric of South Bethlehem. Our students visit the shops and restaurants, many students live in the town, some work on community service projects or tutor local children in afterschool homework clubs. I believe there is no limit to the things we can accomplish when Lehigh University and the City of Bethlehem work together, and I expect you to engage with your community. To talk more about our community, it is my pleasure to welcome my friend and partner, the mayor of Bethlehem, Bob Donchez.