 and Chief Academic Officer here at Fairfield. Now, before we get started, please turn off your cell phones. Father Von Arks, esteemed members of the faculty, staff, university administrators, students, and most especially members of the class of 2020, welcome to the 14th Annual Fall 1st Year Academic Gathering. Prize for the invocation, which will be offered by the rector of the Fairfield Jesuit community, Reverend Michael Tunney of the Society of Jesus. And please remain standing for the singing of the National Anthem and Fairfield Alma Mater by the members of the University Glee Club under the direction of Dr. Carol Ann Maxwell, conductor accompanied by Ms. Beth Palmer. Father Tunney? Thank you, Dr. Bavington. We pause and recall that we are always in the presence of our God. All humans, by nature, desire to know. That's very well put. Aristotle was right to say so. Would you agree? Even more, though, than our desire to know, it is also true that we desire to do bring these two together. The desire to know and the choice to act, particularly for the sake of the common good, is a lifelong endeavor. How fortunate that at Fairfield University, all of us, brand new first years, upper class students and veteran learners alike can strengthen our capacities for critical thinking, for careful reading, for logical and persuasive writing, for articulate speech, and for stretching our moral imaginations. Why? So that we too, like a mashup of St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and Mary Oliver, can each take our great desires and make a plan to do something beautiful with our one wild and precious life. Oh God, right here on the cusp of the Fairfield class of 2020's academic launch, hear our prayers. As you look upon us and walk alongside us, bless us with the profound knowledge that will lead us to defining insights. Bless us with the earnest impulses to do great things with our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. Bless our faiths, all of our defiantly inspired faith traditions and human ideals, so we will live together in peace. You who once filled Robert Bellarmine, our Jesuit university's patron saint with wisdom and goodness. Your son, Jesus, who once grew in wisdom, stature and grace before you and his human community. Grant us too, all that we pray for, all that we desire to achieve. May our thoughts, our words, our deeds always give you glory. Amen. St. Robert Bellarmine, pray for us. Father Tony, and thank you, Dr. Maxwell and Ms. Palmer. Please be seated. To renew the university, to welcome our members and to celebrate new beginnings. For the class of 2020, this is an important time in your life, and you have chosen well to join the Fairfield University community. As a Jesuit institution, we are committed to educating the whole person, cura personalis, the mind, the body, and the spirit. You will have the opportunity to work with amazing faculty, delving into new ways of thinking, developing new ideas, and be getting the process of discerning who you will become. You will learn from and with faculty, staff, and students both in and outside of the classroom. New students today, most of you, will discover that we are a warm and welcoming community, and returning students will help to make it so, especially as they take up new positions of leadership in the many on-campus clubs and organizations that give vibrancy to our common life. I encourage you to move out of your comfort zone. Try new experiences. Join a club, or a team, or a service organization. There's much to choose from. All of your experiences, both in and outside of the classroom, are part of your education and help you to become women and men in the service of others. Over the next months and years, you will discover that learning takes place not only on campus, but in Fairfield, in Bridgeport, New York City, Florence, Madrid, Managua, Bolivia. The entire world is your learning laboratory and within reach, waiting to be discovered. Seize these opportunities, and welcome to Fairfield. I am now pleased to invite Dr. Karen Pellegrino, the Dean of Enrollment, to present the Class of 2020 to the President of Fairfield University, the Reverend Jeffrey P. Von Arks of the Society of Jesus. Karen? On behalf of the staff of the Office of Undergraduate Admission, we welcome you to Fairfield University. Father Von Arks, the Admission Office has been privileged to work with these young women and men throughout the admission process. I am pleased to present them for matriculation into Fairfield University as members of the Class of 2020. I entrust them to your care for the next four years. Thank you, Dr. Pellegrino. On behalf of the university, I welcome the Class of 2020, and I encourage each of you to join with us in this intellectual, social, and spiritual journey over the next four years. Thank you, Father Von Arks. I am now pleased to welcome Zoe Ferrante, President of the Fairfield University Student Association to offer her welcome to the Class of 2020 and to lead the class in the recitation of the University Honor Code. Zoe? Thank you, Dr. Barrington. Hello, and good evening. On behalf of the Fairfield University undergraduate community, I wanna welcome you. By coming to Fairfield University, you've made the decision to join an incredible group of students. And over the next four years, you will have the most enjoyable and rewarding time spent together. This is your time to make your lifelong friends, your time to work towards a future, and your time to grow into the young professionals that will make your family and friends proud. I can't stand up here and tell you it'll be easy, but I will tell you that the challenge is worth it. And if you take a chance to look around, you will see that you are not in this alone. Not too long ago, I was sitting in your seat, but the Class of 2017, watching the former student body president give his speech, and I remember thinking to myself, holy cow, I made it. I'm in college, and it's gonna be pretty cool. And it is. And like me, I bet you all applied to some other schools than just Fairfield. And I'm sure you had opportunities and options knocking on your door. But we all chose to walk through the door that led us to Fairfield University. I was asked to give you a few remarks of advice now that I'm approaching the G-word graduation, and as you are approaching the next best years. My first advice to give you is to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. So this is the time to try new things. Put yourself out there. Take a class you never knew existed. Sit with someone you don't know and barone. Start an intramural sport league in a sport you've never played, and leave your bedroom door open. Coming to Fairfield my freshman year with no one from my high school, uncomfortable was all around me. By experimenting with classes, I not only found a major in communication, but I also found a love for applied ethics and marketing, which I now double minor in. By propping my freshman Jokes door open, I not only was able to meet everyone on my floor, but also form friendships that would later translate into roommates down at the beach. Everyone right now is a little uncomfortable. I'm sure you've already played icebreakers that made you giggle or roll your eyes and had some awkward interactions, but soon this will become more comfortable and you will form your own Fairfield family of friends. Now there's a book about managing your future, and it's called Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. I apologize for the spoiler alert because now I'm about to give away the story. But in this book there are three mice who every day follow the same path in a maze to get to their piece of cheese. One day the three mice reach their spot and they discover their cheese was moved and they go back hungry. The second day the first mouse decides to try a new path and he goes on and on and then finds the cheese while the other two mice keep returning to the same path. Now after a week or so, the second and third mice continue onto the same path and they continue to go home hungry while the first mouse is able to enjoy the cheese that he finds on his new paths. After a while, the second mouse who is now starving decides it's time for him to finally try a new path. And in searching through the maze, he meets the first mouse and is guided to the cheese and now can eat. While the third mouse on the other hand still believes that the cheese will appear in the same spot that it had before. However, as he continues to take the same path, it will eventually starve itself. Now I'm sharing the story with you to tell you a story of change. See, each of us will experience change and we'll deal with it differently. Some will constantly be quick to follow change in our environment and some may reluctantly move on driven by necessity. Nonetheless, in search of something new or exciting, while those who remain behind are doomed to failure. So my second piece of advice for you is that the only constant is change and I encourage you to embrace that change. Whether you have a plan or no plan, do not plan on losing your mind over it. See, just as the mice in the book, your path may change and change again and again and that's not a bad thing. If your major isn't for you, that's okay. Go out and take a new class, find something that fits that might make you way more successful than you would have ever dreamed. If your friends change, that's okay too. Sometimes you just mesh well with other people which isn't a bad thing, it's a sign of you maturing and finding people that make you the best you here at Fairfield. Throughout my Fairfield years, I've been uncomfortable. I've moved with the change and it's not always easy or what I've wanted to do but in the process, I've met the most amazing people and I have created unforgettable moments. I put myself out there. I ran for Senate year after year and now stand before you as president. I started my own radio show and now have a part time job at the radio station. I know that my time here at Fairfield would not have been as successful if I didn't fail or feel awkward playing ice breakers. So now I challenge you to get comfortable with the uncomfortable and to change your path to find your cheese, especially if it's on top of pizza. So now I want to thank you and I want to wish you a successful year and remind you to always stay classy stags. And now, will the members of the class of 2020 please stand and join me in reciting the university honor code which can be found on the back of your program. I understand that any violation of academic activity is entire community and undermines the trust which the discovery and communication of knowledge depends. Therefore, as a member of the Fairfield University community, I hereby pledge to uphold and maintain these standards of academic honesty and integrity. Thank you, you may be seated. Thank you, Zoe. Father Von Arks from the Society of Jesus will now introduce our convocation speaker. Father Von Arks. I together with the faculty, staff and administration look forward to engaging with you the class of 2020, the newest members of the Fairfield University community. At Fairfield, we are committed to fostering a strong sense of community where learning establishes the foundation for your future. Friendships are more profound and experiences are long lasting. Our undergraduate and graduate students will become your friends and support system and our rich academic community provides the opportunity to turn your interests into careers that will serve others. As you begin your time at Fairfield, we are pleased that Dr. Sara Brill, professor of philosophy, will further explore our commitment to you. Dr. Brill completed her BA degree cum laude at Trinity University. Following this, she earned a PhD in philosophy at the Pennsylvania State University with an emphasis on ancient philosophy, ancient medicine and 19th and 20th century European philosophy. During her time at Penn State, she was awarded a doctoral fellowship and teaching assistantship. And during her doctoral studies, Dr. Brill was also awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for study in Freiburg, Germany. Her scholarship includes numerous articles and prestigious journals in the field of philosophy and several book chapters. She is the author of Plato on the Limits of Human Life, published in 2013 by Indiana University Press and co-editor of a forthcoming book, Antiquities Beyond Humanism, currently under contract with Oxford University Press. In progress is her latest monograph, Aristotle on the Concept of Shared Life. Dr. Brill was the 2014 awardee for Distinguished Teaching in the College of Arts and Sciences. A portion of that award citation states, her learning environment is characterized by trust and mutual support, openness and intellectual integrity. Her classroom is a learning community in which students feel safe to examine their own assumptions and beliefs. Dr. Brill, a professor of philosophy has also served as director of the Classical Studies Program and as associate director of the Humanities Institute at Fairfield University, making her an excellent choice for our featured keynote address at this year's convocation. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Sarah Brill. Good afternoon and welcome President Von Arks, Provost Babington, members of the platform party, cornerstone faculty, guests, and most importantly, members of the Fairfield class of 2020. Yeah. On behalf of the faculty, staff and administration, we are delighted to welcome you here today to celebrate the start of your first year at Fairfield. So I'd like to begin with a story. It's an ancient story and the version I want to talk about is from the Greek tragedy in Escalus's play entitled The Suppliance. Near the end of the first episode of this play, Escalus composes a question vital to the life of any democracy. The question is asked by the leader of the chorus, a group of Egyptian women who have fled to the Greek city of Argos seeking protection from forced marriage to their cousins. And the question is addressed to Pulascos, king of the Argives. The stakes of their request for protection are high. The unwanted suitors are on their way, heavily armed and ready to take what they see as theirs by force if necessary. Unwilling to exercise his power as king without consent of the people, Pulascos agrees to attempt to persuade the people himself. While this is happening, he asks the women to move from the altar of Zeus to an open grove for their own protection. It is this move, this move from divinely protected sacred space to public shared space that prompts the chorus leader to ask, how can a space that is open to all protect me? The women are right to be concerned. Within the power structure from which they are fleeing, a space open to all means a space in which all have access to each, a space of danger for some and an arena for the exercise of the power to seize for others. And it is freedom from seizure, an ancient Greek that word is asulia or asylum, that the women seek. Pulascos' resolution to the women's request provides Escalus with the opportunity to celebrate a fundamental institution of democracy. And it provides us with the earliest recorded depiction of a vote, which the playwright describes in terms that illuminate the nature of ancient investment in the practice. I'll quote Escalus here. Argos voted as one person. This is not something scratched on tablets or sealed on scrolls. It is the plain speech of a free tongue. The chorus leader's question, how can a space that is open to all protect me lays bare the conditions of democracy in a profound way? We can hear in it a deep awareness of the relation between how we bear the weight of political life and the fragility of embodied existence. Will we be safe here in this shared and open space created by human agreement? So what does all of this have to do with you? Well, look around. Here you are in this space, having left the confines of home to be somewhere new. This space is open, but it is not empty. You're surrounded by classmates, a few of whom you know, but most of whom you don't. Some of you probably feel perfectly comfortable with this and are excited. Some of you are completely freaked out. I can see it on your faces. All of you are wondering if it's going to rain. Most of you are thirsty and many of you are still wondering who on earth Escalus is. Fifth century Greek tragedy and yes, it will be on the test. I have a secret for you. In your time at Fairfield, you will have many amazing classes, meet many amazing professors and do many amazing things. But the people who will probably make the biggest impact on your lives are the ones you are sitting with right now, the ones you will meet in the library, in the dining hall, on the quad. In a very real way, you will make this place for each other. And while I'm sure it feels like you are in an already made place, a place with traditions and institutions and structures that came before you and will be here after you're gone, there's something you need to understand about these structures. They need you in order to be. They only continue to exist if you breathe life into them and they will change if you change them. Whether you seek to affirm them or change them, both efforts require you to question them, to put the tradition you encounter into question, to, as Robert Frost suggests, go behind the father's saying. This is all to say that you will make the spaces here open or closed, safe or unsafe, familiar or strange. You will be the ones to answer how a space that is open to all can strengthen and support one another. This secret extends beyond your life at Fairfield. Your stewardship of public places and things doesn't end with your time here, nor does it stop at the border of Benson, Barlow and Round Hill Roads. We live in a world that is increasingly without walls and whose borders are porous, permeable, fluid, much like the identities of those who occupy them. Now look, walls are not necessarily bad things. Some walls are great, like the wall separating one bathroom stall from the other. That's a good wall. In terms of creating space, walls are pretty effective. But more often than not, as Wendy Brown points out, the wall serves to divide and to respond to desires that need to be questioned rather than fulfilled. Like the walls, restaurant owners in the American South were required by law to put up, to segregate their clientele. Walls of no less than seven feet tall, according to one statute. Most of the time, walls fail to live up to the expectations placed on them. Worse than that, if in the wrong hands, walls can feed expectations that are unreasonable, unfair, and even damaging. Claiming the right to put up a wall, whether to wall in or to wall out, can feed the worst impulses of human nature. In a particularly dramatic moment in his text entitled The Politics, Aristotle describes in some detail the systematic erosion of trust, friendship, frank speech, and economic security that is essential to a tyranny, and the fear, isolation, paranoia, and poverty that replace them. In Aristotle's analysis, a tyranny thrives off of the dismantling of social bonds, that is, the institutions and qualities that allow humans to share their lives with one another. It is this very aspect that assures the instability of the tyranny and that marks out in negative form what is essential to a recognizably human life. For while the division of labor secures human survival, it is the ability and desire to perform our most cherished tasks with one another, to share these aspects of our lives that is essential for the living well at which political life aims. Or, as the theorist Emma Césaire put it, it is not the head of a civilization that begins to rot first, it is the heart. Be big-hearted citizens. Avoid the forces of isolation and insularity, of fear and distrust, of narrowness and division. Avoid the impulses of territorialism, greed, and stendiness. Keep in mind, as Gloria Anzaldúa reminds us, the skin of the earth is seamless. The sea cannot be fenced. So let's dig deeper and talk about a few other walls. In her welcome address to you at orientation, Provost Babington spoke about interdisciplinarity, the effort to work between the divisions of academic disciplines, to replace walls with fluid borders. But what does this really mean? Well, it means that at Fairfield, we will teach you to see how painting makes geometry visible, how music makes math audible, how behind every great political movement is the ability to imagine the world as otherwise than it is, and how behind every great moment of faith is the ability to find love for a world as it is, damaged though it may be. This will not happen immediately, and it may require sitting through some classes you would not normally take and might not even initially want to take. But as you grow and change, so will your desires and interests. And you may very well find that the class you were dreading has become your favorite. I say this because as a philosophy professor, I may very well be teaching one of the classes you are dreading to take. But here's why we ask you to take these classes. At their best, philosophy and the other humanities put the human into question. This means several things. It means thinking about what makes humans human, what, if anything, is essentially human, how we might differ from other animals, and how we don't. And acknowledging, grappling with, taking seriously the human capacity to inflict pain, to cause suffering, to radically fail at collective life is an essential part of this practice. As is recognizing the ability shared across a spectrum of animals to provide solace and comfort, care, and support. Fred Rogers, whom some of us of a certain age know as the beloved childhood Mr. Rogers, told reporters once that when he was a child and saw something in the world or on TV that upset him, his mother comforted him by telling him to look for the helpers. Because he said, if you look for the helpers, you will know that there is hope. Putting the human into question also means asking oneself, who am I as human? That is, acknowledging that I am a question, that I am never complete, that I am underway. Toward where, toward what? Our failure to ask these kinds of questions out of fear or complacency or what have you creates the conditions for the kinds of deeds that might very well make us the worst animals of all. And so we could dig deeper still and consider the walls we construct around our most cherished beliefs. I would imagine that for a great many of us, the belief that we most cling to and cherish, the belief that we fortify and surround with the largest wall is the belief that we are good. And it's worth asking ourselves, what evidence do we have for this belief? What fears have we withstood? What temptations have we overpowered? What kindness have we shown? Who have we listened to? Who have we learned from? Who have we defended? Who have we loved? Who have we helped? But, and this is equally important, you do not have to do this work alone. You should not do this work alone. You cannot do this work alone. It is only in our bonds and attachment to others that we emerge, even as questions. It is love that holds and keeps us in this world and it is love that creates meaning. Four years from now, you will again convene in this open space. You will have been filled by all of the spaces and places and times and events that stuck to you, clung to you, shaped you over the past four years. And you could ask yourselves, how have I spent this time? What spaces have I created for myself and others? Or better yet, you could ask this of each other. And so now I need to ask you to do me a favor. So I want you to take that note card that was attached to your program and something to write with. If you don't have a pen, no worries, someone next to you probably does, so borrow one. So write at the top of the index card your name and then take a second right now and write the names of the people sitting to the left and the right of you. That may mean you have to ask them their names and that's fine, go ahead and take a minute to do that right now. When you leave, give your card to your NSL. We will hold these names for you and four years from now remind you of them so you can seek those people out and learn from one another what you have done, what you have learned and who you have become. For now, wait until the end of convocation then go home, get some food, get some rest and get ready for class tomorrow. Who knows what you will learn and what you will do? Thank you for your time and attention. Thank you, Dr. Brill. We will now have the presentation of the class gift to the members of the class of 2020 by Bridget Balfiore. Bridget? Class of 2020, welcome to Fairfield University. By choosing to attend Fairfield University, you have begun a four year journey that will challenge your limits, open your mind to new experiences and drive you closer to achieving your dreams. In your choice to come to Fairfield and connect with our community, break through obstacles, gain new experiences, possess great knowledge and form lifelong friendships you have already accepted the gift we are about to give you. The gift for the class of 2020 is a rock. I imagine many of you are thinking, a rock, really? Why couldn't I get stag bucks or a Fairfield gift card? While those are very practical gifts, this rock is much more meaningful. It connects not only to your common reading but also to what it means to live in a community, especially Fairfield University's community. This rock represents the broken piece of a wall and it can serve as a constant reminder that barriers exclude and hinder so many people from new opportunities, friendships, knowledge and much more. This rock represents a new piece of your life and it is a part of a metaphorical wall that you must ensure remains broken. Walls divide, they create animosity, sadness, separation and sometimes war. You must remember their dangers and more importantly, you must remember that you are capable of creating light in a world that sometimes often can seem dark. The university has thus give to do this rock to signify the knowledge you all hold about the dangers of walls as well as the strength you possess to break through these barriers that seem to have always existed. This rock should serve as a reminder that you are already breaking walls as you meet new people, find new experiences and acquire new knowledge. It should serve as a reminder that you are here to make differences and be catalysts for change. This is the beginning of a wonderful journey where you can develop relationships with classmates and mentors, find the courage to overcome difficult obstacles and succeed at reaching your goals. These next four years are your moment. Let this gift remind you that you control your experience as a stag. You have the opportunity to meet new people, to remain motivated and to accomplish goals every day. You have the opportunity for so many wonderful moments, ones that you will cherish for the rest of your life. You just need to be receptive and open to them. We hope you keep this gift as a token to remind yourself that you have the ability to make these next four years amazing. In the poem by Gloria Anzaldua, she writes, but the skin of the earth is seamless. The sea cannot be fenced. So too must you break through these barriers and in doing so you will accomplish great things. You are seamless and you are strong. And with that, I wish you all the best of luck as you embark on this exciting journey. Thank you. Thank you, Bridget. Now I would like to invite the Reverend David Spollett, Protestant chaplain to the podium to pronounce the benediction. Reverend Spollett. Please stand. This is an afternoon, a moment of hope. Father Von Axe, Provost Babington, Dr. Brill, everybody who has spoken has noted, not only the great potential of the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, physical development of the next four years, but the compassion that undergirds that. The compassion that's essential for a community of learners to live together and trust, to try new things. This is a great opportunity for you, and I'm gonna pronounce the benediction and then we'll be done. So that's really helpful. Spirit of God, we ask that you orient all of our actions in this coming year of learning and of growth by your inspirations. Carry by your gracious assistance the students of the class of 2020 and all those who will work and live with them, teach and learn with them so that every word and work of ours may always begin with you and through you be happily ended. We beg of you to remove anything that would separate and divide us from each other and especially from you and your intentions for us. Remove anything that is unworthy of our attention or attachment so that we may be conscious of your presence in every moment, knowing, trusting, loving, possessing you. With Ignatius we pray that you will take and receive our liberty, our intellect, our memory, our understanding, our place in the social order, all the facts of our daily living, our entire life and will. We give them all to you. We engage now ourselves, students and teachers, parents and staff, friends and companions in life with you. To you we return it all, do with it what you will. Make the members of the class of 2020 make all of us the men and women you dream we might become and so inspire and instruct our hearts and minds that we may truly serve you in the world to become women and men who live for others. Amen. Thank you, Reverend Spollett. Before we bring the academic gathering to a close I want to express thanks to the members of the academic gathering committee and the staff from the offices of the Dean of Students and Director of Student Engagement for this exciting and inspiring academic gathering which celebrates the beginning of the intellectual, spiritual and cultural journey for the class of 2020 and the university community. The university wide academic gathering is now officially concluded. Students from the class of 2020 please accept their gift and lead the recessional. Please remain in your seats until the platform party recesses. Thank you.