What does the world ask of the new students today? Talking to a group of freshly graduated students, Joseph E. Aoun, President of Northeastern University talks about the importance of relying on emotions and connections. What Aoun hopes to impart is a going back to the humanity within us, in a world that is driven by technology. After all, there is only so much scientific machines and advancements can do. At the end of the day, what is going to matter more is our personality and the humanity that we embody.
The distinguished journalist from CNN Christiane Amanpour told the students that what she believed in was to stay by what’s true amongst socio-political and ideological pressures. Reflecting upon the motto of Northeastern University – Lux, Veritas, Virtus (Light, Truth, Virtue) – she said that light comes from truth, which in turn leads to virtue. She encouraged the students to ‘make good trouble’. What she means by this is that, the students should not remain neutral, passive viewers of the world but take an active participation to change the world for better. Fighting for equality and against any kind of injustice, Amanpour wants the newly graduated batch of NU students to make people thing and disrupt the problematic harmony that oppressive systems have put in place.
Pankhuri Singhal, the student speaker of the ceremony, talks about how Northeastern University provides the right nurturing ground for students where it urges them to push the boundaries of their comfort zone and experience a multidisciplinary learning atmosphere.
Trouble, as Amanpour shows, needn’t always be negative. With a good educational grounding and informed decision-making skills, making good trouble will help us become responsible citizens of the world.
N Malavika Mohan