As university leaders welcomed Yale's newest undergraduate and graduate students on a pleasantly breezy morning Monday, university President Maurie McInnis assured them that the tools exist to meet this moment of rapid transformation in the world.
And at Yale - where enduring qualities like curiosity, courage, and compassion form the bedrock of a community of learning - the university's newest students could hardly be in a better place to explore them, she said.
The community that each student builds, through faculty mentors and their own new classmates, will help them develop and strengthen their ideas - and help prepare them for whatever the future brings, McInnis told first-year undergraduates during the annual Opening Assembly ceremony on Cross Campus.
"In a world in flux, the skills and relationships you gain here will help you adapt and thrive," she said. "The ability to think critically, engage respectfully, ask questions, and interrogate ideas - that's what stands the tests of both time and technology."
For the 1,643 members of Yale College's entering Class of 2029, the annual ceremony marked the formal beginning of their Yale experience. Hundreds of guests, including family members, friends, and other members of the Yale community, attended.
