Boston University Chancellor John Silber advised the 3,935-person class of 2007 to take advantage of the opportunities bestowed upon them and gave his familiar recommendations for the breakdown of a college student’s day in his final matriculation address Monday.
Silber referred to the next four years as a “time out for leisure” and told the freshmen to not look at the next four years as a time for work.
“Work is a strange concept,” he said. “Leisure should be thought of the way work is thought of as a child. You know how hard children can work but they don’t call it work – they call it play.”
The class of 2007 received an allocution from University Professors Program senior and Student Union President Carl Woog, who welcomed the freshmen with a tally of the number of elevator rides and blue carts used over the weekend.
Woog expressed the importance of studying and laid out a time system built up of three eight-hour blocks for fun, sleep and school work. He also encouraged the freshman to strive for the perfect 4.0 grade point average he has yet to achieve.
Silber advised the students to follow a different schedule than the one given by Woog, directing them to study for 70 hours a week, leaving eight hours for sleep and six hours for fun each day.
“I submit that six hours of fun per day is all that the average student can stand,” he said.
Silber told students to take a wide variety of courses and challenge themselves instead of finding easy professors.
“I would remind you that it is the best professors that are the toughest,” he said. “Those that hand out an easy grade are the ones you will hold in contempt in 20 years.”
Each speaker told the students to take advantage of having Boston as their campus and show respect toward others while representing BU.
Future President Daniel Goldin was a surprise speaker and addressed the freshmen after Silber. Goldin expressed the importance of tolerance and understanding to the freshmen and explained that students would one day solve the world’s problems.
“We cannot have a separation between those that have and those that do not have,” he said.
Woog also told the students to respect others as well as themselves while attending BU, especially when riding the T.
“Though the car may be headed to BC – while you’re on Kenmore to Packard’s Corner you’re on our territory,” he said. “We hold a higher standard here.”
Silber joked with students about BU’s location and courses, told the freshmen BU “is not a politically correct university” and explained specifically why astrology courses were not offered.
“We don’t have courses in astrology because the idea of astrology is bunkum so we don’t pay somebody to teach astrology,” he said. “You’d have to go to a school in New Jersey for that.”
Silber also joked with the freshmen to be careful when crossing the streets of Boston.
“You should walk with caution and look both ways and preferably run,” he said.
Silber told the students to make wise decisions about alcohol, drugs and sex while at BU after promising to never put condom dispensers in the dorms.
“We do not offer sex education at Boston University and we do not offer drug rehabilitation,” he said. “If you’re not smart enough to know how to buy a condom and where to get it you’re not smart enough to be in college.”
Silber told the freshmen to beware of the fatal consequences of their decisions and promised life would go on without them.
“Your parents will grieve … but all of them will get over it,” he said. “The only one who won’t get over it is you.”
Many students disagreed with Silber’s schedule for studying.
“[Silber] had an abstract view of what college is supposed to be,” College of Arts and Sciences freshman Angela Hare said. “Six hours of fun is not enough.”
The freshman class who matriculated this past Monday is composed of students from all 50 states and 56 foreign countries, and 60 percent of them graduated in the top 10 percent of their class. The average SAT score was 1297 and the average GPA was 3.54.
Despite similar educational backgrounds, Silber complimented the class on their diversity and said he had no complaints.
“This is a truly cosmopolitan student body,” he said. “The genes are good – you’ve got no complaints here.”
Silber told the students to mold their own paths and enjoy their careers at BU.
“This is a right of passage,” he said. “You are no longer following the directions of your parents or supervisors – you are essentially on your own. This gives you an unparalleled opportunity for self-discovery and development.”
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