1961 SPEECHES OF H.I.M

GRADUATION---BUILDING COLLEGE

CONVOCATION OF HAILE SELASSIE I UNIVERSITY

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GRADUATION---BUILDING COLLEGE

You, the students who leave these halls today, have justified the trust and confidence which your Government has reposed in you in selecting you for attendance at this school from among the many who have clamoured and who still clamour for the opportunity to study here. In your future work, in your daily life and activities, be ever mindful to prove yourselves worthy of trust. Let all that you do contribute to the ultimate benefit of your motherland and your fellow-men. Let your work always be such that you can take pride in it, and when you do so, your country will have reason to be proud of you.

JULY 14, 1961

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CONVOCATION OF HAILE SELASSIE I UNIVERSITY

.....Leadership developed here should be guided by the fundamental values and moral power which have for centuries constituted the essence of our religious teachings.....Discipline of the mind is a basic ingredient of genuine morality and therefore of spiritual strength. Indeed, a university, taken in all its aspects, is essentially a spiritual enterprise which, along with the knowledge and training it imparts, leads students into more wise living and a greater sensitivity to life's responsibilities.....

This is a most historic occasion for InI, and for the entire Ithiopian people. Today, the first convocation of this University, affords InI first opportunity, as Chancellor, to address the Governors, the Faculty, and the students as a single group.

InI welcome and greet you all on this occasion. You who have in the past, either as teachers or students, been united in spirit although members of diverse educational institutions, are now truly united in this University. InI welcome the members of the Board of Governors, who will direct the policy of the University. InI welcome the Administrators, who will provide the framework within which teacher and student alike will work. InI welcome you, the professors, the instructors, the lecturers, to whom has been confided the task of leading our youth to higher levels of knowledge and learning. InI welcome the students, InI own and those from other lands, who will study here and from among whom will come future leaders.

InI may pause briefly now to enquire why this University is being established, what goals it is seeking to achieve, what results InI may expect of it and what contributions it can reasonably be expected to make.

A fundamental objective of the University must be the safeguarding and the developing of the culture of the people which it serves. This University is a product of that culture; it is the grouping together of those capable of overstanding and using the accumulated heritage of the Ithiopian people. In this University men and women will, working in association with one another, study the well-springs of InI culture, trace its development, and mould its future. That which enables InI today to open a university of such a standard is the wealth of literature and learning now extinct elsewhere in the world which through hard work and perseverance InI forefathers have preserved for InI. On this occasion InI would like to remember with gratitude these fathers of great learning among whom InI quote a few names such as Yared, Abba Giorgis of Gasicha, Absadi of Insaro, Wolde-Ab Wolde Mikael, Arat Ayina Goshu, Memihir Akala Wold and Aleka Gabra Medihin.

Music, drama and other forms of art are rooted in the ancient history of InI Empire, and their development to an even higher peak of perfection will be possible in the atmosphere of a university. Ithiopia is possessed of an ancient literature, and its study can be fostered here so that the Ithiopian youth, inspired by this national example, may raise it to yet higher levels of excellence. The study of the heroic history of InI Empire will stimulate the imagination of budding authors and teachers. The overstanding of that philosophy of life which is the basis of InI traditional customs will lead InI all to a better overstanding of InI nation and of InI nation's expression through the arts.

SPIRITUAL QUALITIES NO LONGER ENOUGH

The immediate and practical aim of this institution obviously is to educate the Ithiopian youth and to prepare them to serve their country. Although such education may be technical, it must nonetheless be founded on Ithiopia's cultural heritage when it is to bear fruit and when the student is to be well adapted to his environment and the effective use of his skills facilitated.

Time was when strength and endurance, courage and faith, were sufficient to make leadership equal to the task. Times have changed and these spiritual qualities are no longer enough. Today, knowledge and training, as provided largely in the universities of the world, have become essential, and today leadership and advancement, both national and international, rely heavily upon the products of universities. Even as Mr. Tubman, Mr. U-Nu, Madame Bandaranaika and Mr. U. Thant were each educated in their own land, InI trust that this University will produce leaders of comparable stature. In all countries of the modern world, special competence is required to deal with the advancement of agriculture, industry, commerce, and the civil service. That competence can be secured only through facilities which are provided in modern universities. InI have often pointed out that the future of Ithiopia is largely conditioned upon accelerated agricultural development, upon mineral exploitation and upon industrial expansion. Her survival depends on these, and they, in turn, depend upon the competence of those who have received and who will receive the essential education and training. It is InI confident hope that this institution, which has been planned for many years will provide here, in InI own land, for InI own youth, the higher education and the specialized training required for such development.

That which man dreams of and to which he aspires, unless fulfilled in his own lifetime, can produce no actual satisfaction to him. As for InI, thanks be unto God that in the founding of this University InI have realized a lifelong aspiration.

EDUCATION: AN INVESTMENT

Education is costly, and higher education is the most costly of all. It is also an investment, a very profitable investment, and the money spent in coordinating, strengthening, and expanding higher education in Ithiopia is well invested. InI are proud of InI people's recognition of the value of education. Their concerted effort in the building of schools and other social activities is most gratifying. Educational institutions, unlike business enterprises, do not exist and operate for profits in dollars and cents. They exist to perform public services, and they are judged by the effectiveness and economy with which they perform these services.

To the Board of Governors, to the administrators, InI recommend economy, so that the benefits of the University can be enjoyed by as many of InI young men and women as possible. Not a dollar should be wasted of the money so hardly earned and so generously contributed by InI own Government and by the Governments of other nations. Plan thoughtfully, supervise closely, and manage economically, to the end that the greatest possible return may be realized in the preparation of competent manpower, in useful research and in training both technical and moral leadership. An immediate gain of the consolidation and coordination, the centralization of resources and operations, should be a saving in costs, and InI urge all to co-operate fully in the attempt to realize this objective. Diligence is demanded in developing this University as rapidly as possible to meet the compelling needs of InI Empire.

InI would ask that extraordinary emphasis be placed on the training of teachers for InI primary and secondary schools. The educational process cannot be a narrow column; it must be in the shape of a pyramid and broadly based. To provide this broad base, large numbers of teachers are required, and InI have a duty to provide Ithiopian teachers for these schools. This is why InI have established teacher training centres in Harar and other places.

NEED FOR VARIOUS DISCIPLINES

The study of the humanities must not be neglected, and the College of Arts and Sciences must be strengthened and encouraged to develop its studies. These are the subjects which contribute most to the overstanding and growth of InI cultural heritage, and so assist in fulfulling one of the University's primary aims. These studies, which are concerned with human cultural achievements, human rights, and duties, human freedoms, will enable youth to develop the overstanding and judgment necessary to the formulation of a sound philosophy of life, to the making of wise choices, and to overstanding what is involved in these choices. These young people face a world beset with the most effectively organized programme of deceptive propaganda and of thinly screened operations ever known; they deserve the best that can be taught by their parents, by religious institutions and by the University, to prepare them for a wise choice among contending ideals.

InI would ask for the immediate founding of a graduate Faculty of Law, where InI own graduates may be trained to enter the legal profession. InI Empire has need, in its government, its commerce, for well-educated lawyers, and particularly for those who have been trained in their own university, in their own codes and customs. InI would also ask for the organization of a Faculty of Medicine in the near future. The training of doctors is a long and arduous process, and this very fact makes it all the more urgent that InI own faculty be inaugurated as soon as possible.

While laying great stress on education for InI younger citizens, InI should not forget the obligation and the opportunity which the University will have with respect to the older citizens. As InI study the plans and projects of this University, InI realize that much attention is being given to the extension of its usefulness to the entire population, in the form of extension courses and lectures. This is according to InI wish. Haile Selassie I University should attempt, either at this main site or at a branch, to serve every qualified citizen who wishes and is able to avail himself of the resources of the University when he is willing to do the required work.

HIGHEST CALLING

InI do not suggest that the list of needs which InI have mentioned is complete, and they represent needs to which this University is seeking to respond. The heaviest responsibility will, naturally, fall on the faculty. Theirs is the job of training the minds and hands of the youth of Ithiopia in the knowledge and in the special skills. InI may all be proud of the Ithiopian members of the faculty who have adopted this highest of callings and who have in the past and will continue in the future to render great service to their nation. The teachers who, in the past, coming from many different countries, have discharged the duty of educating Ithiopia's young men and women have earned InI appreciation and gratitude and the appreciation and gratitude of all of InI. Their example should spur on those who staff the faculty of the University to pursue their tasks with diligence and to spare no effort to ensure that their teaching inspires those who study in their classrooms.

InI sincerely thank Dr. Lucien Matte who assisted InI for many years with loyalty, devotion and diligence in InI efforts for the progress of education in InI country and in the establishment of the University College of Addis Ababa which is one of the affiliated institutions of the Haile Selassie I University.

Also InI wish to remember the late Mr. A. Besse who was one of those who have generously contributed towards the establishment of this University.

All of you must maintain the highest standards in your instruction in order that the overall standard of this University may be second to none. Work together in harmony, as a team, in raising this institution to the highest academic levels. Each of you must do his part to contribute to the advancement of knowledge. You must above all be scholarly, for it is by deeds rather than by words that you can most effectively inspire your students to heed your words. Each of you should consider it his duty to pursue research in your own field of study, for you will thereby bring renown both upon yourselves and upon the institution.

On many occasions during recent years, InI have had the opportunity to speak to InI students. InI trust that InI love and consideration for them and the deep interest which InI feel in their progress has been felt and overstood. Today, InI have dedicated InI home, which InI received from InI noble father, to their service, as a free gift to the nation, in the hope that InI thus contribute to the opportunity for them to prepare for fruitful careers.

InI ask that each student who passes through these halls devote himself to the development of his mind and body, his mental and physical prowess, so as to be better able to serve his country and his fellow countrymen. Choose the field of study which best suits your talents, continue unwavering in your diligent studies, prepare yourself for service in whatever profession you may best be fitted. God grant you success.

DECEMBER 19, 1961

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