Good morning, everyone. To all Eli Whitney students, transfer students, visiting international students, and first year Yale college students, welcome to Yale.
Let me begin by saying it is good, really good to see you here today. And many families and loved ones are watching today's ceremonies online.
And on behalf of my colleagues here on stage and the entire Yale community, I want to extend a warm greeting to everyone joining us wherever you are right now. This is a big moment for you, our newest students, and for Yale, I'm so glad you're here.
51 years ago, university President Kingman Brewster delivered an address to the entering class of new undergraduates, welcoming them to Yale, just as I'm doing now. At the time the university was coming out of a very unusual year.
We can relate. Just a few months earlier in May 1970, tens of thousands of people from across the country had come to New Haven and to Yale to protest the trials of Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins, leaders of the Black Panther Party who were being tried for murder.
Thousands of National Guard troops had been deployed to the city, as some expected the protests to turn violent. The situation was extremely tense.
Fortunately, reason prevailed, the protests remained largely peaceful and no one was seriously injured, let alone killed. Still, these events rocked Yale's campus.
War was raging in Southeast Asia. Movements for civil rights and women's rights were heading in new directions.
And across society, it seemed like a younger generation was rising up to challenge the old guard. Against this backdrop, many people were wondering about Yale's future.
They were uncertain about the university's role, its purpose in a rapidly changing and unpredictable society. Standing here today I'm feeling many of the same emotions that President Brewster must have felt in 1970.
