2005 Kochi University Entrance Ceremony Address
Congratulations to all new students on your admission.
After many years of hard work, your efforts have finally paid off, and the faculty, staff, and current students of this university extend a warm welcome to all of you who have been accepted.
I am also delighted that the family members who attended were so pleased with the event. I would like to express my gratitude to all our distinguished guests for joining us today.
As you are aware, Kochi University has been incorporated, and Japan’s higher education system is currently undergoing a major transformation. I believe the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has decided to implement reforms unprecedented since the Meiji era because it recognizes that the social environment of the 21st century is fundamentally different from that of the 20th century.The corporatization of universities does not simply mean that universities will change, just as the national railways became JR. I believe this is a call to the academic community at each of the 89 national universities to consider what kind of higher education environment is most appropriate from the perspective of education as a human endeavor, so that Japan and the Japanese people may be treated with trust and respect by the people of the world in the 21st century.
I believe that universities, as institutions of higher education, must distinguish between what must remain unchanged and what must be transformed; today’s university community is being called upon to recognize this distinction, draw clear lines between the two, and put this into practice. Consequently, what is required of us at Kochi University is to embody the university’s fundamental mission in a more distinctive and unique way.
You who have been admitted today are not only historical witnesses to the great reforms Japan has undergone since the Meiji Restoration, but also active participants in them.
This is because the students are the heart and soul of Kochi University, and that is precisely the kind of university Kochi University is striving to become.
As president, I would like to share with you here and now the four Cs that I have been promoting throughout the university.
In other words, let us fully recognize the university reforms—CHANGE—that society demands, view this as a golden opportunity—CHANCE—for reform, boldly take on the challenge—CHALLENGE—without fear, and create—CREATE—a Kochi University worthy of the 21st century.
You, the students, are the driving force behind Kochi University. Let us keep these four Cs—CHANGE, CHANCE, CHALLENGE, and CREATE—close to our hearts and, together with our faculty and staff, continue to evolve Kochi University into a place for the creation and transmission of knowledge, grounded in practical learning.Let us strive to become a university that promotes advanced and practical scholarship and research, and continues to produce individuals capable of contributing not only to the local community but also to the wider international community.
From today, you are university students. You are no longer schoolchildren. Schoolchildren are those who are taught in school, but university students are those who make use of the university to seek out their own challenges and learn on their own. Those who expect to be taught will surely be disappointed.What matters is not what the university does for you, but what you yourselves seek from the university. A university education is not limited to lectures delivered from the podium. There is great significance in gathering with your peers to learn, inspire one another, and engage in discussion.
When the day comes for you, our new students, to graduate from your alma mater, Kochi University, the extent to which the university has evolved will depend entirely on you and on us, the faculty and staff, who walk alongside you.
Let us all pledge, each from our own perspective and under our own responsibility, to work together to build a Kochi University worthy of the 21st century. Starting today, let’s set out on this journey together.
April 8, 2005
Kochi University, a National University Corporation, President Yusuke Sagara