Go Forward

2018年度秋季入学式(2018年9月19日)

2018年度9月入学式で、英語でのスピーチを行う土屋学長(駿河台キャンパス・岸本辰雄ホールにて)

It gives me great pleasure to welcome and congratulate our new students on their entry to Meiji University.  The gates of a university which has a history of 137 years have opened for you.  The ten undergraduate schools and sixteen graduate schools that comprise Meiji University are all committed to developing their disciplines whether they be our traditional areas or our newer innovative ones.  You have become a member of this community.  This membership represents that you are now at the most exciting place within Japanese university education.  Furthermore, Meiji University is constantly competing to be the top university that Japanese senior high school students hope to enter.  This year again, Meiji University was the top choice for male senior high school students in the strong career brand survey, within the Kanto area.

As President of Meiji U, my message to you all, is that for a forest tree to grow and develop, it must develop roots.  Trees sustain their growth by being in one place. 
You each must sustain your interest and curiosity by studying in a sincere and diligent manner.  Sincerity and diligence are not only precepts from the past.  The knowledge of any discipline can only be absorbed through sincerity and diligence.  This involves perseverance and patience to continue devoting yourself to a certain theme. When I see a grown forest tree and the rich greenery of the leaves I feel unwavering admiration.  Such beauty is the result of the perseverance and patience of nature. A tree cannot grow without the endurance to sustain itself where it started.

When people, such as I, get older, endurance becomes a challenge. Life goes by more quickly than before.  Even at this stage of my life, to further my studies, I will endure today and wait for a successful outcome tomorrow; and endure this year hoping for a successful outcome the next.

Many of you here today are still young.  Diligence and effort through endurance will definitely be rewarded.  You can travel anywhere your curiosity guides you.  There are a variety of areas you can study, even outside of your own school. 
Your curiosity for just one thing can involve widely diverse areas of study.  There is a place in the world where your curiosity can be satisfied.  There are many places for you to choose from to develop and sustain yourself.  Meiji University has partner institutions all around the world.  If you have the will, you can always find a place where your sincerity and diligence can be rewarded.

It is important to understand the world and to acknowledge and accept how diverse the world is.  International students at Meiji University can also utilize our study abroad programs and study in other countries overseas.  This year, with the support of the Meiji University Study Abroad Programs at Top World Universities, one of our Korean international students enrolled in the Harvard Summer School.  The world is connected.  This connection cannot be bound by a single idea or thought.  The world accommodates diverse cultures and human beings. The distinction between men and women is not the only one.  Human nature is diverse and this diversity is what makes human beings human. 
Acceptance of this diversity is proof of our sincerity.

From now on in your life at Meiji I want you to live in harmony with the world.  I want you to have the patience of a mature tree and to study hard. We, as a university, support your patience and your diligence. My earnest wish is that the world will one day celebrate your days with us.  

September 19, 2018
Keiichiro Tsuchiya
President of Meiji University