At the University at Buffalo, we have concluded a truly remarkable year in our venerated history. In September, we welcomed to our University community, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. His Holiness graced our university with an historic three-day visit to UB lecturing and meeting with students, faculty, religious leaders, and members of our greater UB community. And, at the conclusion of our semester, former Vice President Al Gore brought his “Inconvenient Truth” lecture to discuss global climate change. Throughout the course of the year, leading advocates and voices for environmental protection and sustainability brought their enlightened and empirically informed perspectives to our campus community.
As I reflected on this unprecedented academic year, the distinction between education as a stagnant individualistic pursuit and education as a dynamic, life-affirming, and humanitarian-focused state of being became apparent to me. And, with our distinguished speakers’ messages still reverberating across our campus — within our individual and collective intellects — two inter-woven questions became overwhelmingly evident:
(1) How has our education prepared us to be intellectually adept and ethically responsible at creating and applying new knowledge so we are prepared to lead efforts to improve our local and global communities? And,
(2) What responsibility do we have to contribute to the sustainability and enhancement of humanity, our environs, and our broader physical world?
To our first question, UB Distinguished Speaker Series Presenter and Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai illustrates for us the possibilities afforded through a life-affirming and humanitarian-focused state of being. Dr. Maathai reminds us of the potential of education when sought for the purpose of clarity of mind and for the greater good of our collective humanity. She reminds us that nothing is impossible, only a series of challenges yet to be overcome. Therein lies her message of hope and empowerment; and our inherent responsibility to synthesize knowledge gained through formal educational experiences and to transfer these important learnings to our local and world communities in which we enjoy membership.
Under the broader framework of UB2020, my foremost priority is to enhance the relevance and impact of our tripartite mission: education, research, and public service. In a holistic manifestation of our mission, today, the University at Buffalo provides our students an educational experience distinctly expressed through genuine opportunities to engage in inquiry and discovery, service learning, and leadership in a globalized world. In this globalized information age, we believe it is our responsibility to foster in our students their abilities to investigate and discover, and further, to discern among competing claims. A particular manifestation of this responsibility is our Discovery Seminar Program. Distinguished faculty from across the disciplines lead small interactive seminars designed to connect the academic discipline to the fascinating realities of our 21st century world. When the opportunity was presented to teach a small undergraduate seminar, I could not resist. The students in my Data Mining seminar have been terrifically engaged and enthusiastic learners. Each week I prepare my seminar by outlining learning objectives and sketching out contextual information, and in turn, my students bring to class their own informed inquiries enhancing our discussion and expanding our knowledge and understanding.
Focusing on the second converging question, “What responsibility do we have to contribute to the sustainability and enhancement of humanity, our environs, and our broader physical world?” I am compelled to reflect upon our September visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. During the Law, Buddhism, and Social Change Conference at the UB Law School, His Holiness reflected: “On the basis of our common experience, we should promote and pay more attention to the value of compassion in society through education.”
Education, dare I interpret, provides us with the foundation from which we can bridge uncommon understandings, gain perspective beyond our own parochialism, and humanize our life’s work. Further cultivating our university ethos of enlightened citizenship, this fall semester, the University at Buffalo will introduce two Undergraduate Academies: Research Exploration and Civic Engagement. These faculty-mentored undergraduate academies will provide our students with the opportunity to be part of — through workshops, seminars, experiential projects, and lectures — a small intellectually dynamic academic and social community. And, through expanding the educational spectrum from the traditional classroom to the experiential, UB’s undergraduate academies will provide our students opportunities to broaden their world-view and expand their knowledge regarding the salient cultural, social, and socio-economic issues of today and with the benefit of their informed perspective will learn how to contribute to the betterment of society.
In closing, I wish my sincerest and most heartfelt congratulations to our 2007 University at Buffalo graduates.
Satish K. Tripathi
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Last Modified: Friday January 04 2008