童世骏校长2022届本科生毕业典礼致辞全文

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校长 | 童世骏

Distinguished guests, dear students, dear parents, dear colleagues,

尊敬的观众们，亲爱的同学们、家长们、同事们，

I’m both sad and happy to speak now to you from a dorm room in Shanghai. Like many of you, I’m a bit sad for not being able to speak to you in person from our campus or in a fancy place like the Oriental Center of Arts. But I am also happy - because your hard work in the last four years has brought us together today from all across the world. I’m happy also because the Omicron spike early this year in Shanghai allowed me to spend several weeks together with students in our residence halls, giving me a rare opportunity to better understand their essential needs.

此时此刻，我在上海浦东的学生宿舍问候大家，心情既欢欣激动又不乏遗憾。和大家一样，我感到遗憾，是因为我们无法在世纪大道的上纽校园或东方艺术中心相聚，在线下共庆毕业。然而，我也满怀欣慰，同学们在过去四年的不懈努力，最终迎来从世界各地汇聚云端的今天。此外，疫情期间，能搬入学生宿舍，与同学们近距离相处，深入了解大家的必要需求，这段经历也弥足珍贵，令人难以忘怀。

Here I use the word “essential” deliberately in line with phrases such as “essential workers,” “essential services,” or “essential industries,” phrases familiar to us since the outbreak of the pandemic two and a half years ago. As American philosopher Michael Sandel said in a recent book, “the pandemic of 2020 prompted many to reflect, at least fleetingly, on the importance of the work performed by grocery store clerks, delivery workers, home care providers, and other essential but modestly paid workers.”

我在这里特意使用了“必要”一词，就是“必要劳动者”“必要服务”或“必要行业”等短语中的“必要”，这些短语在2020年疫情爆发后就成了高频词汇。正如美国哲学家迈克尔·桑德尔在近期出版的著作中所说：“爆发于2020年的疫情引发了很多思考，至少让许多人开始反思商贩、快递员、护工等收入微薄又必不可少的劳动者们工作的重要价值。”

Among these “many,” as I came to realize later, are some of our own students. In the last six weeks as their neighbor, I was literally moved to tears at one moment, when I was shown a WeChat dialogue between a foreman worker and a student. In this dialogue, the student pleaded for a chance for him and his classmates to help the ayis who have been delivering meals since the beginning of the lockdown by taking over one day’s deliveries: “for you and the ayis who have chosen to stay with us during this difficult period to help us,” he said, “we haven’t been able to do anything to show our gratitude; but today is Mother’s Day, and we really want to do something today so ayis can have a moment to relax.”

后来我发现，在这群反思的“许多人”中，就有我们上纽大的学生。在过去六周里，我与他们比邻而居，也因为他们的举动而感慨万分。几天前，一位工作人员给我看了他和一个上纽大学生之间的微信对话。学生恳请他给自己和其他同学一次参与送餐服务的机会，让大家不要只是等着阿姨把饭菜送到宿舍，坐享其成。“在这一困难时期，感谢您和其他工作人员选择留下来，帮助我们渡过难关，”学生说，“我们一直不知如何表达对你们的感激之情，正好今天是母亲节，请让我们在此时尽自己所能，让阿姨们休息片刻。”

I’m proud of the fact that our students, students of NYU Shanghai, have learnt, as Sandel said following the passage quoted above, to tell the difference between “the money we make” and the “value of our contribution to the common good.” Compared with other achievements you have made in the last four years, my dear students, the fact that you ask the essential question of 'What can I do for others?' rather than 'What can I get from others?' makes me proud to be your Chancellor.

我们上海纽约大学的同学们让我倍感骄傲。正如桑德尔所言，我们的学生分得清“获取经济利益”与“为社会福祉贡献价值”的不同。与你们在过去四年中获得的其他成就相比，亲爱的同学们，你们将“以何予之”而非“有何取之”作为生活中思考的必要问题，这让作为校长的我感到欣慰不已。

“How to contribute more to the common good,” in my view, is not only an essential question in our individual lives, but also an essential question for a school like NYU Shanghai. Since its establishment ten years ago, NYU Shanghai has worked very hard to prepare its students for their future social role not only as national citizens, but also as patriotic world citizens. 

如何为公共利益谋福祉，不仅是每个个体需要考虑的问题，也是上海纽约大学这样的大学需要思量的必要及根本。将学生培养成为有社会担当、有家国情怀且具备国际视野的世界公民，是上纽大创校十年以来的立足使命。

In order for you to be better prepared for the task of contributing more to the common good of the whole world, my dear students, NYU Shanghai’s faculty, staff, and your parents together have done so many things in the last four years that you perhaps cannot be too grateful to them for their love and care. But you also have so many reasons to be proud of yourselves, for during your undergraduate period, especially in its second half, you had to overcome so many unusual difficulties in our natural and social surroundings.

为了你们能够担当未来社会重任，我们一起做足了准备。亲爱的同学们，过去的四年，上纽大的教职员工和你们的家人，事无巨细，为你们做了很多很多，你们对他们的感激或许无以言表。不过你们也有充分的理由为自己喝彩，在你们的本科阶段，尤其是毕业前夕，面对环境带来的各种不确定与前所未有的困难，你们沉着应对，勇敢迎战，顺利渡过难关。

To say that we can learn a lot more from our experiences in the times of pandemic, of course, is not to say that we should celebrate our bad luck. If we were to choose from multiple ways of cultivating virtues such as resilience and solidarity, I’m afraid, none of us would prefer disasters and tragedies to those events and activities that help increase human wellness and human dignity. Many of us, I guess, would rather take Ms. Yang Yang as our role model, trying to learn a lot more from enduring unusual physical and mental challenges in athletic training and sports competitions. 

即便疫情让我们学到了很多，但这并不意味着不幸是值得庆贺的。如果我们能够选择通过不同途径获得坚韧、团结等品质，恐怕我们当中不会有人愿意选择灾难或悲剧，我们都更希望从那些有益身心健康的活动中炼就美德。我想我们当中有许多人都会愿意将杨扬女士视作榜样，忍受艰苦训练和体育竞赛中不同寻常的身心挑战，并不枉历练，学有所得。

But it is my sincere hope that from now on, not only the e-learning skills that you’ve gained, but also the moral and personal virtues that you have shown and you have cultivated in these challenging semesters, will be your most cherished assets along your personal journey in the future. Along with all the academic progress you’ve made at NYU Shanghai, these skills and virtues will hopefully provide you with tremendous advantages as you navigate the world as NYU alumni.

我真诚地希望，你们从充满挑战的学期里所收获的，不仅仅是在线学习的知识技能，更是其间彰显的品德修为。这份经历，将成为你们人生途中最宝贵的精神财富。伴随着在上海纽约大学获得的学术造诣，从母校离开后，你们将带着这些优势，于所在之地挥斥方遒。

I would like to conclude my speech with the following sincere wish, then: May the achievements you will make in the future be clear evidence of the essential values taught and practiced at NYU Shanghai, and may your life in the future be empowered and enriched by those virtues that have been cultivated by your efforts to increase, rather than reduce, human wellness and human dignity. 

最后，谨送上我真诚的期许：愿你们未来可期，你们的成就将成为上海纽约大学所教导、所践行教育理念的最鲜活的佐证；愿你们在未来的生活中，大学时光赋予你们的美好品德和修为可以助你们有力应对各种挑战，并在挑战中为人类谋福祉。

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