Jonathan Holloway, recently appointed Dean of Yale College, delivered a convocation address to welcome the Class of 2018 at Freshman Assembly in Woolsey Hall, August 23, 2014.
An excerpt from Dean Holloway’s address, “The Knowable and the Unknown,” is printed below. Read the full text of Dean Holloway’s remarks here.
“…though I am impressed by all the many things that you have accomplished up to this point, I am far more intrigued by what you will become over the course of the four years that are in front of you. You have come here as dancers and scientists and artists and athletes and poets and mathematicians. You will surely leave here as dancers and scientists and artists and athletes and poets and mathematicians. But, you know what? Those of you who are dancers now may not be dancers in four years. Those of you who are scientists now may not be scientists in four years — and so on. The point is that you have entered this great place so that you can learn new political perspectives, examine new faiths, and acquire new skills even while you are clarifying your sensibilities, affirming your own faith, and honing those skills that have brought you this far. This is what a place that champions the liberal arts is going to offer you. It is your duty, I believe, to make sure that you accept the invitation.
Dean Holloway is professor of History, American Studies and African American Studies at Yale.
View Dean Holloway’s faculty profile page in African American Studies: http://afamstudies.yale.edu/people/jonathan-holloway