Rector’s Speech
Opening of Academic Year 2022-2023
“Know the true, do the good and delight in both” Boethius c. 1270
Onorevoli Ministru Dr Clifton Grima, onorevoli sur Justin Schembri, Segretarju Permanenti Sur Matthew Vella, kollegi, uffiċjali tal-KSU, studenti u speċjalment intom il-freshers tal-2022, merħba. Illum qegħdin hawn biex nagħtu bidu formali għas-sena akkademika l-ġdida li ħadet is-sura normali ta’ snin mgħoddija. Ċjoè, mingħajr ir-restrizzjonijiet tal-COVID-19 li kellna nsofru lkoll u bit-tined, l-attività u l-ħsejjes fil-Quadrangle. Nawguraw lil madwar 4 400 student li daħlu magħna din is-sena u lill-komunita’ ta’ madwar 12 000 fuq il-kampus l-aqwa sena ta’ studju fl-Università. Uħud mill-istudenti ġodda, madwar 90, ġew aċċettati bħala probationary students. Se nsegwu mill-qrib il-progress ta’ dawn l-istudenti, fiduċjużi li jkunu kapaċi jkomplu bil-kors is-sena d-dieħla bħala studenti regolari. Konvint illi l-esperjenza fl-Universita’ se tbiddel il-ħajja tagħkom ilkoll għal dejjem u għall-aħjar.
Se nkompli bil-lingwa l-oħra tagħna u nibda b’awguri lil sħabna l-istudenti internazzjonali.
Dear international students, thank you for your patience for waiting while I communicated my greetings in our precious language, il-Malti. Can I suggest you attempt to learn some Maltese while you’re here? This may be your only occasion to learn a rare and somewhat exotic language deriving from a mix of several romance languages of Europe and a semitic tongue from the southern Mediterranean littoral. May you not only discover new knowledge and learn new skills but also forge long-lasting friendships with local students that will entice you to come back to the Islands to visit in future.
You may not know that our University is part of an alliance of European universities known as SEA-EU – the European University of the Seas which is one of 41 alliances acknowledged and supported financially by the European Commission. The original alliance comprised Cadiz (in Spain, the lead university), Split (Croatia), Gdanz (Poland), Kiel (Germany) and Western Brittany (Brest, France), all located in coastal regions within Europe. The Alliance is funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus + programme and funding for the project has recently been extended for another three years. Meanwhile, the Alliance has grown to nine as we took on board Nord University (in Norway), Algarve (in Spain) and Parthenope (in Naples). The aim of joining universities into alliances is to facilitate and promote education, research and innovation and to foster social engagement and environmental responsibility. Between us, we have over 100 000 undergraduate students and thousands of postgraduates including doctoral students. SEA-EU opens up to our students and staff better opportunities for mobility and joint degree and research programmes which we intend to continue to exploit. In particular, when our students spend time in these eight different campuses abroad, say on general Erasmus mobilities, it’s like going to their “home university” away from home. The student union, KSU, is of course very supportive of SEA-EU and I encourage you to participate in activities organized within this initiative.
Let me now turn to the main message of my speech today: why do people go to a university to complete or continue their education? What are universities for? Here is one answer from a recent publication edited by Shek and Hollister (2017)[1]: “The contemporary world is facing many problems such as global warming, poverty, income disparities, refugees, aging populations and new diseases. .... As universities are commonly regarded as incubators for knowledge and solutions to promote quality of life, it is important to ask how universities can help to build a better world. In fact, it is the public expectation that universities should generate knowledge which can solve real-life problems which can eventually promote quality of life.” In his excellent book[2] titled The Soul of a University, Why excellence is not enough, Chris Brink, ex-Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University, champions the idea of the civic university, i.e. one that makes the needs of that society in which it is embedded a core function of its work. Professor Brink argues that one reason why universities (especially the more research-intensive) shy away from embracing civic engagement in this way is that this type of work is not perceived to be of sufficient esteem as that involving pure research. He writes “It is a powerful Platonic belief that the discovery and dissemination of ‘knowledge for its own sake’ is more worthy, more exalted, more pure, than any deployment of knowledge in responsive mode.” And, moreover, in the measurement of the worth of a university according to the various world rankings, there is very little that “connects with the idea of responding to the needs and demands of civil society”. In other words, being civilly engaged doesn’t help the university climb what Brink calls the “greasy pole” of rankings.
I am in full agreement with Brink when he writes that universities can be excellent in what they do (that is teach, generate publications and patents, possess and use expensive equipment in powerful research infrastructures etc) but notwithstanding all this, still lack a soul if they fail to respond to the urgent needs of their immediate surroundings.
To argue his case for the presence of a soul in a university, Brink invokes and makes central the words of a philosopher of old, a certain Boethius of Dacia (Denmark) who lived during the thirteenth century[3] and who wrote as follows: “the supreme good open to man is to know the true, to do the good and to delight in both”. I decided to use these same words as a tagline for this year’s speech because they also happen to encapsulate the message to you which I wish to relay.
But first, let me introduce briefly the philosopher. Our Boethius taught at the prestigious University of Paris for a while and there, in about 1270, he wrote a short treatise titled “De Summo Bono” which means On the Supreme Good. Boethius was a follower of Aristotle and like him, believed in the need to proclaim what was known about the natural world even when this conflicted with religious scripture or “revealed truth”. As a result, he got into trouble with the conservative academics at the University and, more seriously, also with the Bishop of Paris who issued a condemnation in 1277 which likely led to him fleeing the city. Europe had to wait for at least another century before rumblings by like-minded thinkers could take root to bring about the Renaissance which rekindled interest in classical philosophy, science, art and culture and incidentally also spawned multiple universities across the continent.
But why is this message from a medieval thinker relevant to students about to embark on their university studies today? I think it is important because sometimes the value of studying at a university is questioned. Arguments are made against going to university in favour of other choices. Disadvantages of university education are mentioned. Thus: you may not gain technical and employability skills; it requires that you spend too long a time studying and not earning money in a well-paid job; during this financially-lean period, contact time with tutors in lecture rooms is limited, anyway; you will likely leave university with a lot of debt and you may not even land a graduate job once you leave; and today there are other more direct learning routes that allow you to access jobs with much less effort. I would disagree with a number of these claims but one has to admit that there is definitely required of the student a commitment to engage seriously with their studies rather than spending time differently. But the point is that spending time to learn, or to put it as Boethius would, to exercise the intellect by knowledge of the truth is actually a delight. In his treatise he writes: “One who has tasted such delight spurns every lesser pleasure, such as that of sense.” And quoting Aristotle (who lived 1600 years before him) he declares that acquiring knowledge is not only delightful but is actually the ultimate joy and source of happiness for people since they happen to possess an intellect, i.e. they have a brain and intelligence which needs to be nurtured.
Take a moment to ponder this idea, namely that acquiring knowledge gives joy and pleasure. I suggest that the major reason for coming to the University is precisely this, that is, to share in this joy and excitement. Very often, the arguments made in favour of university studies are: better prospects for better-paying jobs; essential preparation for a specialized career; increased marketability; higher economic stability and lifetime earnings; networking opportunities; improved self-esteem; etc. All of these reasons are indeed true and important of course but very rarely, it appears, do we include that gaining knowledge is in and of itself actually pleasurable and should be added reason for choosing University over other, possibly less demanding opportunities. If happiness in life is important, then this advantage needs more emphasis. Alas, all too often, the emphasis is placed elsewhere, underlining the fact that a university education is key to later economic success. Even if not articulated in as many words, the message is: suffer now for three/four years so you will open the door to money, power and influence once you’re out of here. Clearly, this message is easy for students to appreciate especially in countries where a university education brings with it a big financial burden due to exorbitant tuition fees: in this context, the promise of a sizeable, indeed almost guaranteed, monetary lifetime return becomes important. Yet, I suggest that this transactional relationship with the university, namely, “you give me your money, I give you a degree = key to a financially brighter future”, tarnishes and devalues the experience, rendering it similar to that of a visit to the supermarket where you get goods for the money you leave behind. Of course, universities need money and resources to operate but in most of Europe, at least, we are blessed in that we believe that universities are a public good needed for the wellbeing of the citizens and the cities. So that, while the State mightily helps its citizens get a sound and proper university education, the immediate concern of the students is to commit to their studies seriously and joyfully with the expectation that learning is fun and, as Boethius put it, delightful. It is gold while all the other joys and pleasures are baser metals.
As a corollary, therefore, let me further advise you not to be satisfied with the knowledge delivered in the lecture room: take it further, much further, through reading beyond that indicated in the study-units’ learning outcomes. Books and learned journals and online resources have never been so easy to access. Our library hours are deliberately long in order that you can spend time there (and elsewhere) reading for your degree. And do not skim quickly over the words – read critically. Understanding is key to enjoying knowledge. And reading is crucial for that. Let me also suggest that you buy books to read, including textbooks: what better way to establish that moral connection with knowledge than to know that you’ve invested a modest amount of money on a book which you can own and keep indefinitely.
Speaking on behalf of both our academic and support staff, we will strive to deliver the best educational experience possible so that you, our students, may realise your full potential while spending time with us enjoying learning. And while on the subject of helping students let me announce the presence, in Student House, of our recently-opened Help Hub. In this office, you will find energetic expert advisors ready and happy to direct you to a building or a hall on campus if you’re at a loss, or answer questions about your course and provide you with possible solutions to general or personal problems. Do use the Help Hub as often as you need to.
Back to Boethius’ invocation: the supreme good open to man is to know the true, to do the good and to delight in both. Gaining knowledge and expertise, learning new skills and thus acquiring competences is not sufficient grounds for the attainment of the supreme good once you move out into the real world. Thus, using these valuable assets as a graduate to clamber to the top of the social pyramid as quickly as possible so as to have the best view, the top salary, the good living even if it means riding roughshod over the interests of others, taking unfair advantages if they present themselves, exploiting resources like there’s no tomorrow, that is, using your knowledge to achieve aims regardless of consequences to others in society or the planet itself etc will not do. It is not doing “the good”: for that, one needs to live by a moral and ethical compass and this perhaps needs to be better emphasised to our students. I am rather convinced that we, as academics, do not spend enough time teaching “the good” since we tend to focus too much on teaching “the true”. Dear students, keep in mind the need to do “the good”, always and as a way of life, both now as students and as upright graduate citizens going forward. Doing the good means not cheating by copying in exams and not plagiarizing or passing other people’s work as your own deliberately and maliciously. Cheating and plagiarism are poisons that pollute the education space: according to a 2020 study by the International Centre for Academic Integrity[4] based in New York, 32% of (US) undergraduates admitted to cheating in examinations, 15% to plagiarism and 2% to getting someone else to do their work (assignment, essay, exam) and then passing it as their own. Such behaviour is likely not only endemic to undergrads in the United States but is also found here and must reflect a lifestyle ethic that we have allowed to take root in society. Behaving ethically means to do the proper and right thing at the right time. As I hinted earlier, it may be time to allocate a space in all our programmes to the teaching of ethics. Any academic work that is performed, including and especially research, has to be conducted within the norms of high ethical standards. The guarding of these standards by our UREC and FREC’s[5] is not stifling and unnecessary bureaucracy but an assurance that our work as researchers does not put any subjects in harm’s way. We richly owe this to our research subjects. Perhaps it is also time to consider setting up an Office for Research Integrity to ensure we all adhere to honest and verifiable research methods and reporting practices because such are also consonant with doing “the good”.
And, in conclusion, may I add that my most fervent hope is that a good and meaningful university education would propel graduates to continue to live their professional and personal lives guided by the principle of learning the true through continuing lifelong education, both for personal and professional enrichment. As properly educated and upright citizens, to continue to do the good by valuing and supporting democracy, justice, fairness and free speech; shunning and disclosing any corrupt practices you may come across; avoiding and curbing the propagation of hate speech, especially through the social media; caring and respecting all members of society, irrespective of religion, sexual orientation, skin colour and place of origin; paying our taxes as the most eloquent act of solidarity with fellow citizens in need; spurning the wanton wastage of energy and precious material resources and promoting practices which sustain our limited planetary resources; and finding delight and satisfaction in doing all this. If we manage that, then we can truly assert that the educational journey which passed through L-Universita’ ta’ Malta has indeed yielded priceless returns.
Have a good year with us.
[1] DTL Shek and RM Hollister (eds) University Social Responsibility and Quality of Life: A Global Survey of Concepts and Experiences, Springer Nature, Singapore, 2017.
[2] Brink C., The soul of a university – why excellence is not enough, Bristol University Press, 385pp., 2018.
[3] Not the 6th century Boethius - that was another apparently better-known philosopher who wrote The Consolation of Philosophy.
[4] https://academicintegrity.org/resources/facts-and-statistics
[5] UREC = University Research Ethics Committee; FREC = Faculty Research Ethics Committee