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Presidential Pronouncements
March 2001 -- Special Tercentennial Edition
Yale's
first leaders were Protestant clergymen, and the tradition of providing
wisdom -- from the pulpit, from the lectern, or in the classroom
-- has endured despite the transformation of the University to a
secular institution. Among the more resonant excerpts from the pens
of Yale's leaders:
Timothy
Cutler (1719-22)
The deepest
Thought and Counsel is necessary to one that hath the Care and management
of all things. The whole World lyeth upon His Care, the Vast System
of things, Visible and Invisible; He is to provide for it, to preserve
everything in its proper order, to curb all irregular notions, to
apply proper remedys, to govern all things, Animate and Inanimate,
Brutish, Rational, Humane and Angelical.
"The
Depth of Divine Thoughts"
1720
Thomas
Clap
(1740-66)
The College
at Cambridge, in New England, is much better endowed than ours;
.by private Donations a College is building in New Jersey, which
will cost much more than both ours. A gentleman from Philadelphia
lately said, that there were instances, wherein some one private
gentleman gives annually near as much money to their Academy or
College, as the whole Colony of Connecticut does to Yale-College.
The
Answer of the Friend in the West, to a Letter from a Gentleman in
the East, Entitled, The Present State of the Colony of Connecticut
Considered
1755
Naphtali
Daggett
(1766-77)
It is
a very just observation, that the having of clear ideas is very
conducive, and highly necessary to speaking clearly and intelligibly
upon any subject. And the reason is very obvious; for if the conceptions
of the mind are confused, this confusion of thinking will unavoidably
run into a person's discourse, and leave a visible tincture of itself
in his Speaking. Language is the picture of the mind's thoughts;
and will therefore naturally have a resemblance thereto, in point
of clearness or confusion. How then can he be supported to speak
clearly whose mind is always beclouded with the thick fogs of confusedly
floating, vague ideas? In order to avoid this mischief, it is highly
necessary, that ministers should be much devoted, not only to reading,
but also to meditation, close thinking, and writing too.
"The
Great Importance of Speaking in the Most Intelligible Manner in
the Christian Church"
1768
Ezra
Stiles
(1778-95)
An hundred
and fifty or 180 Young Gentlemen Students is a bundle of Wild Fire
not easily controlled and governed -- and at best the Diadem of
a President is a Crown of Thorns.
Diary entry
1778
Timothy
Dwight
(1795-1817)
Ask any
plain man whom you meet why he believes that there is a God; ask
even the poor Indian, whose mind, in the language of the poet, is
wholly "untutored," and he will tell you that 'he sees Him in the
clouds, and hears Him in the wind.' All men believe the things around
them to be effects, or works; and all believe them to be the works
of a God; of a being, whose power and understanding transcend all
limits. Nor has any man ever doubted the soundness of this conclusion,
but under the influence of a wish that it might not be true, nor
without a laborious effort to convince himself that it was an error.
So true is it, that "the fool," and the fool only, hath said in
his heart, "There is no God."
"On
The Existence of God"
ca. 1800
Theodore
Dwight Woolsey
(1846-1871)
We rejoice
that the motive which led so many to the war was not the love of
reputation nor the love of adventure, nor any lower motive; but
mingled with and rising above all, a pure, disinterested patriotism.
And we rejoice to believe that this patriotism was kindled under
the influence and within the walls of their Alma Mater.
Commemorative Celebration in Honor of the Alumni of Yale College
Who Were in the Military or Naval Service of the United States during
the Recent War
1865
Noah
Porter
(1871-86)
Our first
position is, that for the years appropriated to school and college
training, there is no study which is so well adapted to mental discipline
as the study of language. We argue this from the fact that language
is the chief instrument of intelligence. It is thought made visible
and clear, not merely to the person to whom thoughts are to be conveyed,
but to the person who thinks for and by himself.
The
American Colleges and the American Public
1870
Timothy
Dwight
(1886-99)
The democratic
spirit of this institution has never had its vitality dependent
on the fact that every individual in the university brotherhood
was spending, or could spend, only the same amount of money.or that
each student must have the same accommodations, or the same number
of books, or the possibility of the same personal privileges in
every respect, which were open to the college life of all his fellow
students. The democracy of the institution would never have existed;
it would never have been possible, if such a condition of things
had been essential to its existence. It would have been unworthy
of educated and intelligent men.The true and genuine democratic
spirit -- that which our University has always claimed for itself
-- is the spirit which estimates a man according to what he is,
and not according to what he has.
Report of the President
1899
Arthur
Twining Hadley
(1899-1921)
We must
apparently experiment with a policy which should allow the introduction
in larger and larger measure of courses which are really professional
within the framework of the undergraduate electives. We should not
only encourage a man to experiment as to what he is good for --
which is the principle underlying the elective system as administered
at present -- but we should also permit him, when he has found out
what he is good for, to begin seriously the work of professional
study.
Report of the President and Deans
1907
James
Rowland Angell
(1921-37)
The university
is essentially a living thing. Like other organisms it must grow
by casting off that which is no longer of value and by taking on
that which is. Meantime, it will always be true that where the great
investigators and scholars are gathering, thither will come the
intellectual elite from all the world.
Inaugural Address
1921
Charles
Seymour
(1937-50)
The world
can be saved only by a reawakening of the conscience of mankind.
The conscience has been deadened by the events of the past 35 years.
We have become so habituated to the ruthless use of force, to barbarous
inhumanity, to the destruction of good faith that we have become
numb or neutral when we face the issue of right as against wrong..It is easy for conscience, whether of an individual or a nation,
to go to sleep. How pleasantly we can lull it into a coma by deception
and rationalization! In this field of morals, more than any other,
constant questioning and incessant thrusts of inquiry are necessary
if conscience is to be kept active. The danger in this field is
not that some one will try to interfere with our opinions. The danger
is that we shall not take the trouble to have any opinions at all.
Baccalaureate
Address
1948
Alfred
Whitney Griswold
(1950-63)
My moral,
then, is plain, and my charge to you is simple: To do good you must
first know good; to serve beauty you must first know beauty; to
speak the truth you must first know the truth. You must know these
things yourselves, be able to recognize them by yourselves, be able
to describe, explain, and communicate them by yourselves, and wish
to do so, when no one else is present to prompt you or bargain with
you. This knowledge has been the purpose of your education. Hold
true to the purpose. No Price, no mess of pottage, can equal its
value to your country and yourselves.
Baccalaureate Address
1957
Kingman
Brewster (1963-77)
Yale
will be for you and to you what you make of it. Despite the gloom
of the times this is not a gloomy place. It is a place where life
can have purpose without being a society of driven men and women.
It is also a place where there is no escape from argument, for the
next person you meet will not be likely to agree with the last person
talked to. This is a community which rewards participation but does
not expect conformity. This is primarily a place for learning, but
not all learning is in books or laboratories or classrooms. You
probably have not been as free before. You may not be as free again.
Enjoy the privilege of doubt. Make the most of it.
The Freshman Address
1974
A.
Bartlett Giamatti (1978-86)
It is
to the place where the seeds of speech first grew and where we began
to find our voices that we have come back, this good place Yale,
neither a paradise nor the worst spot we have ever been in, a good
place which continues to want to make her children better; we have
come back to a very good place, hospitable to one of the most deeply
pleasurable experiences people can have, which is to recall times
of pleasure with others who also remember. That may be as close
to paradise for a moment as any one of us ever comes. In this good
place, I have always thought so.
To the Class of 1960, Twenty-fifth reunion
1985
Benno
C. Schmidt Jr.
(1986-92)
Yale
is one of the signal achievements of the experiment that is America;
it is a treasure of Western civilization. As a place where knowledge
is advanced, where scientific investigation and humanistic inquiry
are nourished, where artistic creation is stimulated, Yale stands
almost alone in importance in the world. This luster carries a special
challenge. Yale is a crucible in American life for the accommodation
of intellectual achievement, of wisdom of refinement, with the democratic
ideals of openness, of social justice, and of equal opportunity.
Yale's greatness carries an urgent need to guard against the fall
of excellence into exclusivity, of refinement into preciousness,
of elegance into class and convention.
President-designate's Statement|
1985
Howard
R. Lamar
(1992-93)
The specialized
barriers between urban and non-urban must fall for a holistic view
of the world we live in. As an example of what I mean, environmental
concerns, to be properly studied, must embrace research and teaching
efforts across the campus, ranging from topics in biology and anthropology
and geology and geophysics, to engineering, medicine, architecture,
law, and the humanities. I urge you to see Yale and New Haven as
having problems and opportunities in common to our national society
and to participate in helping resolve them by study, and by volunteering
your services to the city of New Haven.
The Freshman Address
1992
Richard
Levin
(1993-
)
With
[the] abundant opportunities to shape your own lives go important
responsibilities. The benefits of.new technologies will not be
shared equally by everyone. We will want to keep in place the .
incentives that reward innovation, but we will not want to live
with the consequences of an ever-widening gap between the rich and
poor, in this country and around the world. As you seize the opportunities
created by new technology, you must also assume the heavy burden
of citizenship and share in the responsibility to spread those opportunities
to others, who are now deprived of them by accident of birth or
geography.
Baccalaureate Address
2000 
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