Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!
\nFremde, etranger, stranger.
\nGl\u00fccklich Euch zu sehen, je suis enchante,
\nHappy to see you, bleib hier, reste, stay.<\/p>\n
Welcome to more than 2000 international students
\nfrom Damaskus to Delhi,
\nfrom Vancouver to Vladivostok,
\nfrom Cape Town to Kirkenes.<\/p>\n
Welcome to 7641 students from Denmark
\n– Danes with different cultural backgrounds, from Nakskov to N\u00f8rre Bronx.
\nAnd welcome to each and everyone of you
\nwho represent \u201cThe Diversity of Copenhagen\u201d
\n\u2013 with academic courses ranging from hard-core physics to mind-blowing philosophy.<\/p>\n
Finally, I would like you to greet the people standing there on the stairs,
\ndressed in the folk costumes of this university,
\neach representing his or her own faculty with its own culture of learning. <\/p>\n
It is custom in this republic of academia not only to cheer for your own dean
\nbut also for your fellow faculties
\n\u2013 however strange their academic traditions may seem.
\nI will begin with the two Prorectors. <\/p>\n
From your left:
\nProrector for Research and Innovation, Thomas Bj\u00f8rnholm
\nProrector for Education, Lykke Friis
\nDean at the Faculty of Theology, Kirsten Busch Nielsen
\nDean at the Faculty of Law, Jacob Graff Nielsen
\nDean at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Troels \u00d8stergaard S\u00f8rensen
\nDean at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Ulla Wewer
\nDean at the Faculty of Humanities, Ulf Hedetoft
\nDean at the Faculty of Science, John Renner Hansen
\nAnd University Director Jesper Olesen.<\/p>\n
It may be that Jon Stewart stopped as host in \u201dThe Daily Show\u201d.
\nBut now YOU \u2013 the students of 2015 \u2013 you will run the show at this university
\n(at least today). <\/p>\n
Speaking of Jon Stewart,
\nhe always ended his show with a clip from the crazy world we live in.
\nHe called it \u201ca moment of zen\u201d \u2013 but it was rather like \u201ca moment of madness\u201d.<\/p>\n
So here it is folks \u2013 your \u201cmoment of Zen\u201d this summer:<\/p>\n
The Lion \u201cCecil\u201d is no longer Lion King in the National Park in Zimbabwe.
\nA dentist from Minnesota, USA, travelled 15.000 km. to Zimbabwe and payed 50.000 $ to shoot \u201cCecil\u201d with an arrow.
\nA woman from Eritrea doesn\u2019t have a penny. She has to jump on a moving train in Calais going through the tunnel 50 K to the UK.<\/p>\n
The king of real estate, Donald Trump
\n\u2013 the guy with the hair of a lion who owns the lion share of the city jungle \u2013
\nstarted his race to the top spot in America. <\/p>\n
People from Denmark escape the cold weather.
\nPeople from Syria escape the war.
\nThey all meet on the same beach.
\nIn the crystal clear waters of a Greek island,
\nboth tourists and refugees drift on rubber boats
\nbut for different reasons. <\/p>\n
The football player Christiano Ronaldo
\nbuys a Greek island as a wedding present for his agent.
\nOn another Greek island it was not allowed to give a bottle of water to a child from Syria, walking on the road in the heat.<\/p>\n
A smiling dentist shooting lions, people jumping on moving trains.
\nIt sounds like a James Bond movie on a mission gone wrong.<\/p>\n
The Danish Government is also on a mission.
\nIt wants to put an ad in the paper
\ninforming Syrian refugees and the people who transport them
\nabout conditions in Denmark.
\nWell, the University of Copenhagen already has ads in the paper,
\ninviting bright young people from all over the world to join this university.
\nAnd here you are! <\/p>\n
Now I\u2019ll switch to Danish – for a while. <\/p>\n
Ja, verden er ikke helt i zen.
\nKan universitetet klare verdenssituationen?
\nKan I?<\/p>\n
Her p\u00e5 universitetet f\u00e5r I en v\u00e6rkt\u00f8jskasse til at bygge noget op.
\nMen mekaniske kompetencer alene reducerer mennesket til en maskine.
\nEn uddannelse skal ogs\u00e5 rumme dannelse.
\nDannelse er ikke lig med udenadsl\u00e6re og konger\u00e6kke,
\nmen hele r\u00e6kken af argumenter for og imod kongernes betydning. <\/p>\n
Tag bare Niels Bohr, der kigger ud over jer derovre fra sin bronze-buste.
\nBohr sagde engang til en anden stor fysiker, citat
\n\u201dVi er alle enige om, at Deres teori er tosset.
\nSp\u00f8rgsm\u00e5let er, om den er tosset nok til at v\u00e6re korrekt.\u201d <\/p>\n
I den forstand rummer universitetet ogs\u00e5 noget revolution\u00e6rt,
\nsom kan bringe den tossede verden mere i zen.
\nEt opg\u00f8r med konformiteten og dogmerne
\n\u2013 eller som det hedder p\u00e5 nutidsdansk: et innovationspotentiale.<\/p>\n
Den revolution\u00e6re kraft vil I f\u00e5 her p\u00e5 KU \u2013 \u201dmay the force be with you\u201d.
\nOg s\u00e5 er der ikke gr\u00e6nser for, hvor langt I kan n\u00e5 med at l\u00f8se alverdens gr\u00e6nseoverskridende problemer:
\nKlima & konflikter,
\nfattigdom & flygtninge,
\nfedme & f\u00f8devareknaphed,
\ng\u00e6ld & Gr\u00e6kenland.<\/p>\n
For slet ikke at tale om d\u00e9t, der fylder mest i jeres liv.
\nAt finde noget at leve af \u2013 et job.
\nOg at finde noget at leve for \u2013 modet til selv at definere, hvad der er rigtigt og forkert.<\/p>\n
Her kommer s\u00e5 tre rektor-r\u00e5d til et studie i zen
\n\u2013 i balance mellem uddannelse og dannelse.<\/p>\n
For det f\u00f8rste:
\nV\u00e6r nysgerrig.
\nS\u00f8g det fremmede.
\nBliv en kulturel kam\u00e6leon, der kan skifte sprog og falde ind i omgivelserne,
\nsom en verdensborger i \u201den verden af i morgen\u201d.
\nL\u00e6r flere sprog \u2013 husk at engelsk kun giver \u00e9t verdensbillede.
\nRejs ud.
\nG\u00e5 p\u00e5 opdagelse i gr\u00e6nselandet.
\nTag eksotiske fag p\u00e5 fremmede fakulteter.
\nDuk forudindtaget op til foredrag og g\u00e5 hjem med en uventet konklusion.
\nKom til arrangementer derinde i festsalen \u2013 med statsm\u00e6nd og kvinder
\nog folk, der er \u201dnoget ved verdensmusikken\u201d .
\nLad mig give jer et indtryk af sp\u00e6ndvidden over \u00e5rene.
\nFra Ingmar Bergman til Michael Haneke.
\nFra Hannah Arendt til J\u00fcrgen Habermas.
\nFra Winston Churchill til Angela Merkel, der kom til debat med de studerende i april. <\/p>\n
For det andet:
\nFordyb jer.
\nSluk for Ipadens bl\u00e5lys i sovev\u00e6relset.
\nT\u00e6nd for den indre lystavle og l\u00e6s b\u00f8ger – ikke kun faglitteratur.
\nL\u00e6r om Gr\u00f8nland ved at l\u00e6se Leine.
\nLav din egen russiske oprustning gennem Tolstoy.
\nTag fat p\u00e5 Europas historie ved at l\u00e6se Zweig.
\nIndr\u00f8mmet: Jeg har selv en Netflix-konto.
\nOg jeg har en svaghed for Frank Underwoods m\u00f8rke underskov af ugerninger i House of Cards.
\nMen korthuset kan ramle, hvis man kun streamer underholdning efter behag.
\nDet er ikke n\u00f8rdet at vide noget.
\nMen derimod klogt at dykke ned i substansen
\n\u2013 frem for bare at surfe p\u00e5 Internettets overflade.
\nOg husk p\u00e5: Fornuftens filter er bedre end Googles algoritmer.<\/p>\n
For det tredje:
\nV\u00e6r selvst\u00e6ndig.
\nVi tilbyder ikke fois-gras studier eller studier hvor I h\u00e5ndmades med f\u00e6rdigretter.
\nOg KU skal ikke v\u00e6re et curling-universitet, som fejer alle forhindringer v\u00e6k. <\/p>\n
Men derfor beh\u00f8ver man jo ikke at rende forvirret rundt for at finde den mest basale info
\n– s\u00e5som om ens undervisning er aflyst \u2013 og at man kan sove en time l\u00e6ngere.
\nDerfor har vi nu f\u00e5et en app \u2013 myUCPH – s\u00e5 I kan ha\u2019 KU med i lommen.<\/p>\n
Nej, universitetet er ikke 4.G.
\nMen \u00e9n ting vil du genkende fra gym:
\nDu skal tage din uddannelse til tiden.
\nS\u00e5dan er de regler, som politikerne har bestemt. <\/p>\n
Men i det lange l\u00f8b er det kortsigtet at starte med en sprint.
\nOg at v\u00e6re \u201dSmart i en fart\u201d er heller ikke god stil p\u00e5 universitetet.
\nDerfor vil vi p\u00e5 KU g\u00f8re vores til, at der stadig plads til de omveje,
\nder er genveje til en bedre uddannelse og til mere dannelse:
\nUdlandsophold, erhvervserfaring og iv\u00e6rks\u00e6tter-dr\u00f8mme.
\nFor slet ikke at tale om tid og rum til de sk\u00f8re teorier,
\nsom netop ikke er s\u00e5 sk\u00f8re ved n\u00e6rmere eftertanke \u2013 i Niels Bohr \u00e5nd.<\/p>\n
Et studieliv i overhalingsbanen med hornet i bund
\n\u2013 lyder heller ikke sundt for medtrafikanterne.
\nPas p\u00e5 hinanden og skab et godt studiemilj\u00f8
\n\u2013 s\u00e6rligt her i starten, hvor der er mange nye ting, man skal v\u00e6re opm\u00e6rksom p\u00e5.
\nF\u00e5 overblik p\u00e5 intranettet \u2013 KUnet.
\nL\u00e6s studiebeskederne, se jeres personlige skema og klik videre til Absalon \u2013 jeres online kursusrum.
\nOg husk ogs\u00e5 de ikke-virtuelle f\u00e6llesskaber:
\nmeld jer ind i Alumneforeningen \u2013 eller en af de mange studenterforeninger. <\/p>\n
Dear students <\/p>\n
Today you enter the University of Copenhagen.
\nAnd in this ceremony you are accepted as citizens
\nin this republic of higher learning.<\/p>\n
In a moment you will all shake my hand
\n\u2013 or the hand of Prorector for Education, Lykke Friis. <\/p>\n
The handshake means that you will obtain your academic \u201ccitizenship\u201d
\nand that you promise to obey the university laws of 1479.
\nThe laws are mostly about all the power of the professors
\nand about misbehaving students who will be thrown in prison. <\/p>\n
As you can hear, it sounds very \u201cold school\u201d and medieval.
\nSo today, I hope we can shake hands on the merits of modern university education:
\nTolerance, openness and freethinking. <\/p>\n
In other words the academic spirit that will give you \u2013 and indeed the world –
\nnot only a moment of zen, but a lifetime of zen. <\/p>\n
Thank you!<\/p>\n
(Editor’s note: This speech was delivered to the University Post under embargo. The spoken word 28 August 2015 may have varied)<\/p>\n
universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n
Do you have a good story? We would like to hear from you<\/a>. In the meantime, like us on Facebook <\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events and follow us on Twitter<\/a> for links to other Copenhagen academia news stories.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Speech held by Rector Ralf Hemmingsen at the Matriculation for new University of Copenhagen students 28 August 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n