After settling in on College Hill over the past few days, first-years assembled last night for the first time as the class of 2010 - the University's 243rd incoming class - to hear University administrators and a prominent alum reflect on what it means to be a Brown student.
"Class of 2010, you are a very select group - in fact, the most select group in Brown's history. But please don't let that go to your heads," Steven Cornish, associate dean of the College and dean of first-year studies, said to the incoming students last night on the Main Green.
Unlike previous opening class meetings, however, members of the class of 2010 were not told how smart they are, how many valedictorians are among them, how many of their peers nabbed a perfect score on the SAT or how many states and nations they hail from. Instead, the meeting, titled "Introduction to the Brown Community: Values, Intellectual Life, and Change," focused on the responsibilities Brown students have in choosing their courses and living on campus.
Katherine Bergeron, who became dean of the College in July after two years as professor of music at Brown, told first-years that the University's New Curriculum gives students "the right to demand meaning" from their education and "the freedom to learn what you want and when." She said the curriculum is a direct legacy of the late-1960s free speech movement, in which students fought against "a cold and impersonal university," "learning by rote" and "alienation."
"Here you are also meant to make a difference with your education," Bergeron said. "That means a difference both in yourself and in the world - both here and beyond Brown."
"It's not simply a matter of your selecting courses that are personally meaningful to you," she continued. "The Brown challenge, I think, is that you find a larger meaning by reaching out to connect with the world, both in and outside Brown. A course of study in this way becomes a meaningful course of action for your whole life."
Russell Carey '91 MA'06, who was recently appointed interim vice president for campus life and student services, gave a nod to the University's tradition and heritage as he centered his remarks on the responsibilities of Brown students.
Carey told first-years that by matriculating at Brown they are obliged to adhere to the University's standards of student conduct and academic code, treat others with respect and civility, stay safe and healthy and be truthful and honest.
"The responsibility to be truthful and honest extends to the University as well," Carey said, linking this obligation to the University's ongoing investigation into its historical ties to slavery.
"The group of laborers ... who constructed University Hall in 1770 included among them at least four slaves whose owners sent them to work on this building for several weeks to satisfy pledges the owners had made to the construction," Carey said.
Indeed, Brown's ties to slavery have been the basis for the work of the three-year-old University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, which is expected to release its report this fall. The chair of the committee, Associate Professor of Africana Studies James Campbell, will speak to first-years about the committee's work in a required class meeting Friday.
Last night's guest speaker was Kathryn Fuller '68 P'06, former president and chief executive officer of the World Wildlife Fund and current chair of the Ford Foundation and a member of the Brown Corporation. Fuller encouraged the incoming class "to dive into and participate actively in what this special University has to offer" and implored first-years to allow professors and classmates to enrich their time at Brown.
Fuller said she hoped incoming students would go on to make a difference in society. "From my days at Brown forward, I continue to believe deeply in the power of individuals to change the world around them," she said.
"Here at Brown, you have the opportunity to think broadly and to dive deep, to engage within the University and the larger community and to think about how you want to change the world - whether in large ways or small," Fuller said. "So take advantage of the many windows on the world that Brown can open for you - and be sure to have fun doing it."
