So, the first obligation concerns our intellectual and scholarly work. Our campus must be a place conducive to deep study that will motivate both a lifetime of learning and the development of character that will serve you well as future leaders.

　　第一个义务涉及到我们的学术工作。我们的校园必须是一个有助于深入学习的地方，以激励终生学习，促进性格发展。这将对于你成为未来领袖大有裨益。

　　Yale will demand much of you. There will be times when you don’t understand an assignment or struggle with a problem set. You may do poorly on a midterm. At least I hope so! Those failures—as much as your successes—mean you are doing something right. Be kind to yourself, and remember that you have come to Yale because you don’t know everything—not yet.

　　耶鲁会对你们有诸多要求。有些时候，你会无法理解一项作业而陷入自我思想斗争;你也可能会在某次期中考试中表现不佳——至少我希望这些都能够在你们身上发生!那些失败和你的成功一样，意味着你在做正确的事。善待自己，并时刻记得你来到耶鲁是因为你还有需要探索的未知领域。

　　The faculty will be alongside you, as teachers and mentors. This is my thirty-third year on Yale’s faculty, and I know that working with students is one of the great joys of this profession. Go to office hours. Get to know your professors, and they will help you deepen and expand your expertise. Most of all, allow your curiosity to take wing—to take you in unexpected directions and lead you to new areas of study, practice, and discovery.

　　作为教师和导师，耶鲁的教职员工将和你们并肩前行。这是我在耶鲁大学任教的第三十三年，和学生一起工作是教授这个职业的一大乐趣。去了解你的教授，他们会帮助你加深和扩展你的专业知识。最重要的是，允许你的好奇心插上翅膀，带领你进入学习、实践和发现的全新领域。

　　I enrolled in courses in college that I hadn’t planned to take, and they changed the way I see the world now, forty years later: a course in the history of theater styles, a course in writing poetry, a course in real-world (applied) sociology, a course in geology that involved fascinating fieldwork. Make sure you explore the great range and diversity of academic experiences available to you here.

　　我在大学时参加了一些我并没有计划的课程，它们改变了在四十年后的我看世界的方式。当时我上了一门关于戏剧风格历史的课，一门诗歌创作的课，一门应用社会学课，还有一门涉及有趣的田野调查的地质学课。确保你在耶鲁能够探寻足够广泛和多样的学术经验。

　　Second, as citizens of Yale, we are obligated to listen carefully to others. Sometimes this means we must listen to ideas we find objectionable. You don’t have to agree, but each of us must enjoy the opportunity to express thoughts and opinions. We work hard to safeguard this right on our campus. I hope you will have many opportunities to think deeply and speak honestly and courageously about difficult issues during your time here.

　　第二，作为耶鲁的公民，我们有义务认真倾听他人的意见，虽然有时这意味着我们必须倾听那些反对我们的想法。你不需要同意每个人，但我们每个人都必须有机会表达自己的想法和观点。我们努力在校园中维护这一权利。我希望你们在耶鲁度过的这段时间里，有很多机会深入思考，并真诚且勇敢地谈论复杂的问题。

　　Discourse is the heart of the academic enterprise. So, find times and places for conversation, whether in a classroom, dining hall, or on the athletic field.

　　论述是学术事业的核心。所以，找时间与不同的人交谈，无论是在教室、餐厅还是在体育场上。

　　There are many impediments to meaningful conversation, including technology. I am not going to try to persuade you to stop texting or tweeting altogether. But I would urge you to put down your phones whenever possible, and seek out face-to-face interactions. We are happier and our relationships are stronger when we do. (Just ask anyone who took “Psychology and the Good Life” with Professor Laurie Santos last year!)

　　当然，要进行一场有意义的对话面临包括科技上的许多障碍。我不会试图说服你停止发短信或推特，但我会敦促你尽可能地放下手机，寻求面对面的交流。当我们面对面交流时，我们会更快乐，我们的关系也会更牢固。(任何一个听了Laurie Santos的课程《心理学和美好生活》的人都知道!)

　　You will meet people of remarkable talent, promise, and integrity here at Yale. In the days and weeks ahead, I would urge you to seek out a wide variety of friends and associates. As I said to last year’s graduating class, draw a larger circle to include people who might look, talk, act, or think differently from you. Introduce yourself to staff members; get to know your neighbors in the city of New Haven. Your ability to speak but also listen, to reach beyond what is familiar and easy, will be one of the great measures of your time here at Yale.

　　在耶鲁，你会遇到拥有杰出天赋、前途和品格的人。在未来的日子里，我希望你结识不同领域的朋友，正如我对去年的毕业生所说的，画出一个更大的圈子，将样貌、谈吐、行动或思维与你不同的人囊括进去。去认识更多教职员工，去认识你在纽黑文市的邻居。你在谈话时也不要忘了倾听，超越那些你已经熟识的事物，将是衡量你的耶鲁时光的一大标准。