Members of the Brown community – Chancellor Mencoff, Provost Doyle, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and students – it is my great pleasure as President of Brown University to declare the 260th academic year open!

I extend my warmest welcome to members of the entering classes of the Medical School, Graduate School and the College.

Among them are:

• 1,199 talented doctoral and master’s students
• 144 dedicated medical students
• 10 Resumed Undergraduate Education students – individuals who have gained valuable life experience between high school and their entrance to Brown
• 87 very wise transfer students
• And, of course, 1,695 exceptional first-year students, the core of the Brown University Class of 2027!

All of you are spectacular, and it is an honor and privilege to preside over your very first formal exercises as Brown students! This is one of the highlights of my year—and it has been so for the past eleven years!

The first major speech I gave as the president of Brown University was at our Opening Convocation on September 5, 2012.

It poured! Despite the disappointment that Convocation had to be moved to Pizzitola Sports Center (thankfully, not repeated today), I was excited to begin my new role. I felt so optimistic about Brown’s future.

After welcoming our new students, I opened the speech by stating three ideals that we as a community hold sacred:

• that the pursuit of education is noble;
• that the right to learn should not be limited by the ability to pay;
• that diversity is far more than a legal concept, or a mathematical equation – but a profoundly ethical belief that our differences enlighten and enhance us.    

At the time, these ideals were not especially controversial. But, times have changed. Over the past decade, higher education has been subject to intense criticism in the media, considerable political wrangling, and a number of significant legal decisions. Subjects of debate include the cost and value of college, student debt forgiveness, free speech on college campuses, and equity in admissions.

But nothing is currently more controversial than the role of diversity in higher education. The Supreme Court’s recent decision barring the consideration of race and ethnicity as a criterion in college admission is viewed by many as the death knell of racial diversity in colleges and universities—to the delight of some, and the despair of others.

Although I was disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision, it has not shaken my belief that our differences enlighten and enhance us.  And, I continue to believe that diversity is essential to the academic excellence we value.

Brown cannot be a great university—providing excellent education, and advancing knowledge and understanding for the common good—without a student body that represents a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures that reflect the diversity of our country and our world.

Imagine how much a student from an immigrant family might add to a classroom debate on immigration policy; how much a student-veteran could contribute to discussions of military strategy or post-traumatic stress disorder; and how the life experiences and insights of a Black medical student might spark new research on racial disparities in maternal mortality and other health outcomes.  

And, how much a friendship between two students—one whose parents did not attend college, and the other whose parents are university professors—might enrich the lives of both.

And then imagine how much poorer we would be as a university if our students came in with monotonously similar life experiences and worldviews, unequipped to ask and answer the provocative questions that are central to learning.

And, as a result, how much less they would be able contribute to society as college graduates.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court’s decision is narrow. By focusing solely on the consideration of race and ethnicity as a criterion in admission decisions, it removed one—but only one—strategy for increasing the diversity of our student body.

With your help, and the help of our alumni, Brown can and will employ race-neutral strategies that honor the letter and the spirit of the law. We will cast the widest possible net when encouraging students from all backgrounds to apply to Brown.  We will encourage outstanding, diverse students to continue to accept offers of admission. And, we will proudly highlight our commitments to academic excellence, open inquiry, and the equitable and inclusive treatment of all of our students and Brown community members.

Eleven years after that first Convocation speech—this time on a beautiful, sunny day—I continue to be optimistic about Brown’s future, and our ability to draw on our differences to advance knowledge and understanding, for the benefit of society. 

My optimism is fueled by all of you. Each and every one of you has so much to offer this community, in your own extraordinary way. You were admitted to Brown University because of your brilliance, your commitment to academic excellence, your curiosity, your kindness, your boldness, and your passion for advancing the public good.  And I’m so glad that you’re here.

With that, it is my great pleasure to introduce our Convocation speaker, Professor Kim Cobb, who is Director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, otherwise known as IBES.

I asked her to speak several months ago, because I knew that her area of work—climate change—is one of the issues students (and, indeed, all of us) are extremely concerned about. And that was before a summer of fires, floods and heat waves across the globe.

Professor Cobb is an award-winning climate scientist whose research focuses on building capacity for solutions to climate change. Earlier this year, she was appointed to serve on President Biden’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which provides counsel to the president on matters of national security, including climate change.

Here at Brown, in addition to her own research and teaching, she works closely with IBES faculty to advance the institute’s commitment to studying the interactions between natural, human and social systems. And, very importantly, she works with faculty to prepare future leaders—that’s all of you—to envision and build a just and sustainable world.

Today, she’s going to speak to you about the challenges of climate change that your generation has inherited – and the consequential opportunities of that inheritance.