Scientific and technological advances are enabling us to comprehend the furthest reaches of the cosmos, the most basic constituents of matter, and the miracle of life.
At the same time, today, the actions, and inaction, of human beings imperil not only life on the planet, but the very life of the planet.
Globalization is making the world smaller, faster and richer. Still, 9/11 and avian flu remind us that a smaller, faster world is not necessarily a safer world.
Our world is bursting with knowledge—but desperately in need of wisdom. Now, when sound bites are getting shorter, when instant messages crowd out essays, and when individual lives grow more crazy, college graduates capable of deep reflection are what our world needs.
For all these reasons I believed―and I believe even more strongly today―in the unique and irreplaceable mission of universities.