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Hello everyone! To first-year, transfer, and Eli Whitney students: Welcome to Yale! I also extend a warm welcome to all the family members and friends who join me in recognizing this milestone in your lives.Today we begin a new academic year at a time of significant upheaval. Historically, social conflict and disease pandemics have catalyzed change, and so we should not be surprised that many are calling now for further transformation of our society.We are dealing with two parallel crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial inequality and injustice rooted in our country’s history of slavery and still facing us today. We have all been affected by these challenges, especially members of Black and brown communities who bear the brunt of these burdens.I have been giving a lot of thought to the university’s role in addressing difficult social issues. Much remains to be answered in this turbulent period, but what is certain is that the core mission of Yale is more relevant than ever.I am sure each of you has studied Yale’s mission statement:Yale is committed to improving the world today and for future generations through outstanding research and scholarship, education, preservation, and practice. Yale educates aspiring leaders worldwide who serve all sectors of society.
We carry out this mission through the free exchange of ideas in an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community of faculty, staff, students, and alumni.Research, scholarship, education, preservation, and practice are vital to understanding our past, building on hard-earned progress, identifying what still needs to be done, and creating change. You know this; it is why you are here.You will be studying with professors who use their knowledge and expertise to improve the world. Yale faculty members work with government officials and others on containing the spread of infectious diseases, mitigating health disparities, transforming policing, and reforming the criminal justice system.While addressing challenges like these, you will learn from your teachers how to analyze problems, think critically, and communicate clearly. Along the way, you also will be encouraged to focus on yourself. Whether fighting a global pandemic or the scourge of racism, global climate change or economic recession, we must be willing to be honest about our own motivations and open to changing our minds. Efforts to solve pressing problems will not be effective if they are led by individuals who cannot feel compassion nor learn to cooperate, nor by those who try to achieve change through manipulation, coercion, or brute force.Yale’s faculty understands this. I recently discussed compassion with Sterling Professor of Sociology Elijah Anderson. He has contributed immensely to the study of racial inequality, particularly in urban settings, but he also has put his expertise into practice as a consultant to the White House and to Congress. I asked him, how does he teach students who want to improve the world?耶鲁教职工深知这一点。最近，我和社会学斯特林讲席教授Elijah Anderson就“慈悯心”展开了探讨。他对于种族不平等问题，尤其在城市环境领域颇有研究，同时作为白宫和国会的顾问，他也把自己的专业知识应用到实践之中。我问他，他是如何教导那些想要改善世界的学生的。He told me that he shows his students how to see the world from the point of view of others—how to have empathy. Such an ability, he noted, can help us to be better scholars and students, to be more sensitive to the human condition, and to be more self-aware. When we are motivated by empathy, compassion, and cooperation, we can bridge differences, learn to understand one another, and enact meaningful, sustainable change.他告诉我，他会教学生如何站在别人的角度看待这个世界，如何怀揣一颗同理心。这一能力能够帮助我们成为更优秀的学者或学生，更敏锐地观察人类的处境，也能让我们更有自知之明。当我们出于同理之情、慈悯之心和合作之道去做事，我们就可以连接不同、理解他人，从而带来有意义的、可持续发展的改变。Empathy and compassion—a willingness to engage those with whom we may not see eye-to-eye and a concern for the misfortunes of others—are preconditions for cooperation. Cooperation—working together to solve a common problem, especially one that we cannot overcome by working alone—requires us to listen to each other charitably, appreciate each other’s perspective, and inhibit our desire to dismiss individuals with whom we initially believe we cannot develop common purpose.同理心和慈悯心，指的是我们与那些素未谋面之人沟通的愿望，对那些遭遇不幸之人的担忧，这是合作的前提条件。而合作指的是大家一起解决共同面对的问题，尤其是在一己之力难以办到的情况下。这需要我们友好地倾听彼此，尊重对方的见解，抛开我们一开始会认为难以共事的偏见。The enemies of compassion and cooperation are fear and anger. I am not saying that it is inappropriate to experience the fear caused by a pandemic of a novel virus that can be fatal. And I am not saying that one shouldn’t feel anger, indeed, outrage, at the killing of George Floyd by former officers of the Minneapolis police department. In fact, COVID-19 makes me anxious; and those former officers, who took a sworn oath to protect the public, leave me livid. But, although such fear and anger can be motivating, I must ensure they do not prevent my finding common ground with well-meaning others whose approaches to societal challenges are not the same as mine. I must engage them rather than attempt to silence them to accomplish anything real and lasting.慈悯与合作最大的敌人就是恐惧和愤怒。我不是说，面对这样一种新型致命性的病毒引发的大流行病，不应该心生恐惧。我也不是说，面对George Floyd遭到明尼阿波利斯市警察的杀害，愤慨和暴怒是不对的。实际上，新冠肺炎疫情也让我深陷焦虑，那些曾誓言要保护公众的警察也让我感到愤怒。这种恐惧和愤怒虽然激励着我们采取行动，但我不能让这些情绪阻止我与其他善良之人找寻共通之处，尽管在种种社会挑战面前，我们采取的方式可能不尽相同。所以，我必须让他们参与进来，想要实现一些有现实意义和长久影响的事情，就不能缄默别人的声音。Let me provide an example from politics. At one time, women who became pregnant and men who wanted to take time off from work to care for an infant were at risk of being fired by their employers. But in 1993, the U.S. Senate passed the Family and Medical Leave Act, guaranteeing family members the ability to take a prolonged unpaid leave without risking their jobs in order to tend to a newborn, adopt a child, or assist a sick family member.我想举个政治方面的例子。曾经，如果女性怀孕，或者男性想要请假回家照料婴儿，他们都面临着被开除的风险。但是在1993年，美国参议院通过了《家庭与医疗休假法案》，从此保证了那些因为家中有新生儿要照料，有孩子要抚养或是有生病的家人要照看而请假的人，他们享有无薪加长假期，不用再冒着失业的风险。How did this act—which was considered revolutionary at the time—pass? Well, it was developed cooperatively by Senator Ted Kennedy, among the most liberal of lawmakers, and Senator Orrin Hatch, among the most conservative. They opposed one another on many policies, but in this case, they found a common cause: supporting families. They both felt compassion toward individuals at risk for losing their jobs due to childbirth, and—perhaps more important—they respected each other as individuals, listened to each other, and placed national interest ahead of party differences. Their cooperation led, ultimately, to significant social change.这种在当时看来具有革命性的法案是如何通过的呢?其实就是因为两位参议员的合作，一方是极具自由精神的泰德·肯尼迪(Ted Kennedy)，另一方是保守派的代表奥林·哈奇(Orrin Hatch)。他们曾在许多政策的制定上意见相左，但在这项法案上，他们找到了共同的出发点——支持这些家庭成员。两人都对可能因家中添丁而失去工作的人抱有慈悯心，而且更重要的是，他们彼此尊重，相互倾听，将国家利益置于党派分歧之前。他们的合作最终也为社会带来重大变革。One final thought about the importance of compassion and cooperation: Most of you, members of the Class of 2024, are part of Generation Z, the post-millennials. I am, well, a Baby Boomer. Perhaps you have heard that you and I are quite different. True, you are the first “digital natives,” and the only world you have ever known has included the smart phone, texting, and social media. And you are distinctive in other ways as well. Yours is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in American history, and you also promise to be the best educated.关于慈悯与合作的重要性，还有最后一个问题值得思考。你们中的大多数人，2024届的同学们，是生于千禧年之后的Z世代。至于我，属于婴儿潮一代。也许正像你们听到的这样，你我全然不同。的确，你们是第一批“数字原住民”，你们的世界充斥着智能手机、短信和社交媒体，在其他很多方面也展现出与众不同的一面。你们也是美国历史上民族和种族最为多样化的一代，并享受着最好的教育。But it is not only that we are different in these ways; we also are said to disagree. We are told we have different views on politics, music, and work. I am sure you are familiar with the stereotypes that exaggerate our differences. Stereotyping is another barrier to compassion and cooperation.但有时，我们之间的不同不只是这些，还有别人口中所谓的不同。有人说我们对政治、音乐和工作有不同的看法，相信你一定对这样的说法并不陌生。可是这些刻板印象实则夸大了我们之间的差异，成为了慈悯与合作的另一个绊脚石。For example, you fault my generation for the great problems of our time. And my generation too often fails to understand you. We pass you on the sidewalk, mystified by your ear buds and your clothes. We tell you to grow up, to get off social media, to develop some real-life coping skills, and to get out of your parents’ basements and get a job. And to us you say, “OK, Boomer.”Thanks to an article I read in the Wall Street Journal—a print edition of it, in fact—I am told this is a “sly linguistic weapon of intergenerational warfare.”比如，你们会将当今时代的问题之源归罪于我们，而我们这一代人也缺乏对你们的了解。当我们在路上看见你们，常常搞不懂你们的新潮耳机和奇装异服。我们告诉你们要成熟一些，远离社交媒体，培养一些现实生活中的应对技能，别窝在家里依赖父母，赶紧去找一份工作。这时候你们会回答道，“好吧，老人家。”我从《华尔街日报》(印刷版)上读过一篇文章，称其为“世代间的唇枪舌战”。Well, although such stereotypes give rise to internet memes and other kinds of clickbait to get us to think of our differences as “intergenerational warfare,” we are not at war. Those are distractions, and they won’t help us link arms in overcoming what may be standing in the way of our future—our shared future.尽管这些不同年代人之间的刻板成见成为网络上一大热点，涌现出很多表情包，让我们之间的“不同之处”被视为“代际战争”，但是这根本不是一场战争。这些固化的想法让你我变得疏远，难以携手克服前方的困难，也阻碍我们走向共同的明天。At the heart of “OK, Boomer” is the belief that my generation contributed to the serious, even existential, problems in the world that you will enter and lead. Your generation sees the challenges posed by climate change, disease, abusive policing, war, racism, and poverty. You recognize the urgency of these problems. But my generation does as well. Instead of dismissing one another’s perspectives and focusing only on difference, we need to direct our attention to creating something better for all who will follow us. We can only do that by harnessing our compassion and cooperating.“好吧，老人家，”这句话背后的核心意思是一种成见，认为是我们这一代人给你们将要迈入和引领的世界造成了严峻、关乎人类存亡的问题。你们的确见证了许多挑战：气候变化、疾病、暴力执法、贫穷。你们认识到了这些问题的紧迫性，可是我们这一代也看到了。与其不顾别人的看法，只关注我们之间种种的差异，倒不如直奔主题，寻求更好的解决方法，改变今天也造福明天。而想要做到这点，我们就要怀揣慈悯之心，懂得互助合作。Here at Yale, we learn from each other. That is why academics like me enjoy spending their entire lives on college campuses. And it is why you chose to come to Yale. The passing of knowledge and the responsibility to do some good with it from one generation to the next is a large part of Yale’s mission. It is hard work.在耶鲁大学，我们能够互相学习。这就是为什么像我这样的学者愿意在大学校园里度过一生的原因，这也是为什么你选择来到耶鲁大学的原因。将知识一代代传承下去，用它们助力美好的事情发生，这是耶鲁使命的重要组成部分。当然，实现它需要付出艰辛。So, please: use your time at Yale wisely. Let us devote ourselves to learning together, to the personal transformation that the pursuit of knowledge can create for each of us. Let us use these college years to change ourselves—to become more compassionate human beings. And then let us work cooperatively on existing and emerging challenges to create the world we desire.所以请你们务必把握好在耶鲁的时间。让我们互相学习，在求知中完成自我蜕变。利用大学时光改变自己，成为更具慈悯心的人。让我们携起手来，一同应对现存的以及未来可能出现的新挑战，共创所愿世界。
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