“You Dreamed Big, You Worked Hard and You Belong Here”

Eileen Barroso

Students, parents, family and friends: Welcome.

How it must feel to be at the beginning of this exciting new chapter.

Let me begin by assuring our newest students of something: You are the Columbia College Class of 2030. You are home! While each of you has a unique story and followed a different path to this place, you all dreamed big, you worked hard and you belong here. Not solely because of your grades and achievements — which were impressive, to be sure — but also because of who you are and all that you bring to this campus. Indeed, your distinct personalities, perspectives and passions, your interests and questions, will be essential to shaping this place over the next four years and well beyond.

We — your professors, advisers, College staff — are right here with you, to walk alongside, support and challenge you. We will do our part to ensure that you have what you need to flourish and to have a truly transformative experience, one that sets you up for lives of civic engagement, meaningful achievement and professional success. We do so by cultivating an environment that invites (and requires) you to learn, to grow and to discover — to better understand — the whole of who you are and the world around you.

It begins with the heart of a Columbia College education, the Core Curriculum, a foundational set of classes taken by all College students in literature, art, politics and philosophy, music and science. In Core classrooms, you will encounter people whose views are different from your own — maybe vastly divergent. But this range of perspectives, and your openness to listening to and engaging with them, is the point! As one of the philosophers on the Contemporary Civilization syllabus, John Stuart Mill, tells us: “He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.”

Together, you will wrestle with timeless questions about justice and freedom, beauty and belonging, power, truth and technology.

On the topic of technology, it is hard to say that word these days without immediately thinking of AI. This rapidly evolving technology is the latest to reshape how we live and learn. It is neither the first, nor will it be the last. And so, even as we work to incorporate responsible AI use as part of our education, we also reaffirm what’s most important: that human-centered critical thinking, and collaborative sense making, is the best possible preparation for students.

This is the heart of the Core Curriculum: You will hone your ability to think critically. You will develop powerful habits of mind — of sustained attention, judgment and discernment. All of this extends outward into your chosen majors and minors across the Arts and Sciences, and indeed, in your larger life here at Columbia.

In and beyond the classroom, you will deepen your studies through research and experiential learning, benefiting from the faculty expertise and resources of this world-class university. You will also explore your passions through co-curriculars, engage in service to causes you believe in, and enrich your education by experiencing the energy and dynamism of New York City.

Through it all, you will forge relationships that will shape your journey over the long haul. You will find mentors to guide you. Faculty to inspire you. Friends to uplift and support you — and to tell you tough truths that you may not want to hear at the time. You will do the same, in turn, for them.

Now, let me be clear about something else: We talk about this next week of activities, initial meetings and to-dos as “Orientation.” We know we are asking a lot of you. There is a great deal thrown your way. It’s OK not to remember everything at first.

In truth, this entire year is an orientation. And it goes far beyond learning the geography of campus or the how-tos of class registration. You are acclimating yourselves to a new academic environment, learning the values of citizenship and mutual responsibility that define and nurture our shared community, and contemplating your professional ambitions and purpose — your sense of “why” developing as you learn and live together.

You are taking the next steps in a process of personal and intellectual formation that will change and challenge and reward you. It is not to be rushed.

So, slow down. Ask yourself: What do I want to learn? What do I want to try? In what ways do I need and want to grow? And we will help, with a structured series of programs to help you build community and think together over the course of your first year.

And so, Class of 2030 — with your first year ahead of you, and four years of exploration and knowledge to come — good luck, and let’s go!

Dean of Columbia College and the Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor; Vice President for Undergraduate Education; Professor of Religion and African American & African Diaspora Studies