(Remarks as prepared for delivery.)

Members of the Brown community—faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and students—it is my great pleasure, as President of Brown University, to declare the 262^nd academic year open! 

I want to extend a special welcome to the members of the entering classes of the graduate school, medical school, and the college. Among them are:

• 144 dedicated medical students
• 1,270 talented master’s and doctoral students
• 8 brilliant Resumed Undergraduate Education scholars—students who have gained life experience after high school before coming to Brown
• 103 incredibly perceptive transfer students
• And, of course, 1,753 exceptional first year students, the core of the stellar class of 2029!

Finally, I want to give a special shout-out to our new international students. I am so glad that you are here! This is the first year that international undergraduates were accepted on a need-blind basis, which expands Brown’s ability to educate the most talented students from the widest possible range of backgrounds. Brown is one of just 10 U.S. colleges that is need-blind for international undergraduates, and we are so proud of this distinction. 

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To all of our new students: you are a stellar group—incredibly talented in so many dimensions, and incredibly “right” for Brown. 

But what does it mean to be “right” for Brown? We certainly do not aim to admit a single “type” of student. And you are proof of this. You have wide-ranging and diverse interests, backgrounds, and experiences. That diversity is what makes this university so great.

But even though you are all different, there is something distinctive about Brown students. It is a blend of intellectual curiosity, creativity, and humility. A commitment to collaboration. An openness to new ideas and perspectives. A desire to make the world better. And its resilience: the ability to recover and thrive after experiencing difficulties. 

Even after experiencing failure.

Yes, I said “failure.” That is a scary word. But, this afternoon, I want to challenge you to risk failure while you are here at Brown. 

This idea may seem completely horrifying. Despite your remarkable accomplishments, many of you may be thinking “What am I doing here? I know that the person sitting to my right, or left, is better equipped to succeed at Brown. And now, she’s asking me to risk failure?!” 

I want to make two important points that I truly hope you take to heart.

First, not succeeding at something does not mean that you are a failure.

It means that you tried something, and it didn’t work out. But you learn from those experiences. And each one opens up a choice: will you decide to persist in trying to accomplish the same goal, or pivot and do something else? The choice is yours.

Consider Thomas Edison. He took the route of persistence. He and his team, in their quest to make a useful lightbulb, conducted thousands of experiments to find a filament that was durable and affordable. The way he described it: “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”

Arianna Huffington is a great example of someone who chose to shift course after experiencing failure. Her second book was rejected by publishers 26 times. When she ran for governor of California, she got less than 1% of the vote. But then, she took her skills in writing, combined with what she learned from politics about the power of online media—and co-founded the wildly successful Huffington Post. 

One lesson from these examples is that resilience pays off. Another is that taking risks—trying things with uncertain outcomes—is part of learning. 

And learning is what you are here to do.

My second point is that the Brown environment is designed to support you as you take risks. 

We want you to push yourself while you are here, intellectually and socially. To try things that take you out of your comfort zone.

When I talk to undergraduate students about why they chose Brown, the most common answer by far is “the Open Curriculum.” This approach to education is designed to encourage intellectual exploration, which means taking risks. 

Tomorrow, you will start Brown’s famous “shopping period.” I want each one of our new undergraduate students to shop at least one course in a subject you know absolutely nothing about. If you love math, shop Classics or German literature. If you love writing, shop biostatistics or cognitive neuroscience. And stick with those courses if they seem interesting, even if you are not sure you can do well in them. That is what S/NCs are for, after all. But getting something other than an “A” is not the end of the world, either.

And for our graduate and medical students—it is likely that the set of courses you will take is more constrained. But I challenge you to pursue ideas that are novel, that carry risk. Do not be afraid to challenge the status quo in your fields. Do not be afraid to ask your professors challenging questions. They want you to do that.

Taking risks goes beyond the classroom. You are surrounded by people from all over the country and the world, who have perspectives and experiences that are different from yours. It would be an enormous missed opportunity not to learn from them. That means you must talk to them. And that, too, carries risk.

One of the scariest experiences of starting college is standing in a dining hall, with a tray of food, scanning the tables and seeing not one familiar face! So, I challenge you—go sit at a table where you don’t know anyone. And strike up a conversation. 

You may fail. They may be uninterested in you, in which case you will end up eating your pizza or chicken nuggets in silence. But you may meet someone who is really interesting. You may forge a friendship that lasts a lifetime. (Take it from me: a stranger I sat down with in a college dining hall is now my husband of 43 years!)

So, please, take risks. And remember that, if you fail at something, that does not mean that you are a failure. It means that you are exactly the brave and resilient student we hope you will be.

One more point. Last spring, our faculty, and the Corporation—Brown’s governing body—approved a set of core institutional values that guide us as we advance our mission of education and scholarship in the service of society. They are: 

• The pursuit of knowledge and understanding, which is the way that Brown serves the community, the nation and the world — through research and discovery, and education.
• Academic freedom and freedom of expression, as well as a commitment to openness and diversity of ideas, perspectives, and experiences. Our students and scholars—all of you—must be free to study and learn what they choose, without fear of censorship, and in an environment that values open and respectful discourse.
• And, finally, responsibility for a thriving academic community. Brown is a place where all students, faculty and staff are valued and supported. Every single one of you—regardless of your background, where you come from, how you identify—has something of value to contribute, and deserves to be here. 

This responsibility for sustaining a thriving community is shared by every single one of us—administrators, faculty, staff, and students. It is a commitment I ask you to make to each other. Support each other. Learn from each other. Disagree with each other—but even then, in a spirit of humility and generosity that binds our community together and makes all of us better.

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Now, to introduce our keynote speaker. Ethan Pollock is the Abbott Gleason University Professor of History and a Professor of Slavic Studies. He is a distinguished teacher and scholar of Russian history, who has been at Brown for nearly 20 years. On July 1 of this year, he was appointed Dean of the College, responsible for the oversight of the entire undergraduate program at Brown. Deeply committed to sustaining a vibrant, resilient academic community, Ethan has all the hallmarks of someone who is “right” for Brown, and for this position. When he was appointed dean, he said “Building relationships at Brown is such a privilege, and it’s one I’m thrilled to embrace as dean…I love being around such smart, engaged and interesting students, faculty and staff who help me see the world anew every day.”

Each fall semester marks a period of adjustment. Ethan’s address today is titled “Transitions and Transformations: Making the Most of Your Brown Education.” I want to thank him for his willingness to share his insights with all of you today, as you prepare for a wonderful and productive semester ahead. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Dean of the College Ethan Pollock.