Graduation address: Professor Keith Sillar
Friday 29 June 2018
Chancellor, ladies and gentleman, new graduates.
When the Principal invited me to deliver this graduation address three thoughts immediately sprang to mind. First, the feeling of trepidation when your commanding officer asks you to engage in action –advisable not to say “no”, but concern about the consequences of saying “yes”. Second, I normally lecture to students for 50 minutes at a time and once started I can be very difficult to stop. Third, more important, what an honour and privilege it is to congratulate you on this fantastic day. You have made an amazing achievement graduating from one of the best universities, not only in the UK, but in the world. As a Head of School, I’ve experienced the trials and tribulations of some at first hand and you leave with my extra respect and admiration for persevering through what have been challenging times.
The degrees you were awarded moments ago have been sandwiched by my five years as Head of School, an office that ends on 1 August. So we have in common the fact that our lives are about to undergo massive change and we may not be completely sure what comes next. Once today’s celebrations are over many of you will leave the Bubble of St Andrews exit step into a world that has so changed dramatically since you arrived here. It bears little resemblance to the more ordered society when you first arrived – before the Scottish Independence Referendum and the Brexit vote before some new cartoon characters appeared like “The Donald” (not to be confused with the duck variety), and his adversary “Little Rocket Man”. Thank goodness they made up eventually.
The world can indeed be a scary and unpredictable place in which it is easy to feel small and insignificant. However, as the Dalai Lama once remarked: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito”. Incidentally, the Dalai Lama went on to receive an honorary degree from St Andrews in 1993, so you have more in common with him than you might think. But the world, like many systems, as you will have learned here at St Andrews, is homeostatic so we should not fear the future too much. Whatever tries to destabilise it is met with forces that pull it back into shape, and you are amongst those who will make this world a better place if you use your skills, your knowledge and your sense of purpose sensibly, as we expect of all our graduates. Try to look beyond the turmoil and strife, and seek solutions to whatever problems the future throws at you. And always remember, if you can see further, it is because you stand on the shoulders of the giants of your discipline; and you don’t have to look too far to realise that many of them are St Andreans. You have joined the ranks of graduates of distinction, including Benjamin Franklin, honoured with a Doctor of Laws in 1759, whose words of wisdom included: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”. You're about to prove him correct, believe me. As many of you will know, Franklin was one of the Committee of Five who drafted the American Constitution. Sometime later remarked: “Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes”.
Today you alighted from a platform, both literally and metaphorically. The conclusion of your degree here today is the platform from which you will launch the next phase in your career whether it be further study, research or one of the many professional pathways to which your degree grants you privileged access. As new graduates, you depart changed people, people who see the world differently from when you arrived. You leave knowing important facts, like the difference between a Chi-squared or a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. But you have also generated new knowledge, knowledge that was not known before. And these include, from your research projects, for example, how to train carers for dementia sufferers, or even how frog embryos can inform us about diabetic pregnancy or spinal cord injury, and the impact of Citizen Science in education, to name but a few. You also leave with a new set of values, not just knowledge, and the traditions that make this such a special place – although it is perhaps best not to run into the ocean at dawn on 1 May or engage in unsolicited shaving foam incidents anywhere other than St Andrews.
We hope you will continue the more important traditions of St Andrews graduates and make us all proud of your future achievements, which we await with eager anticipation. You should be ambitious – but not at the expense of others; be bold – but not foolhardy; be compassionate – but remember you share the world with many more needy than yourself; be decisive – back yourself to make the right decisions; be exceptional – strive for perfection and don’t accept mediocrity; be focused in achieving your goals; be proud of your St Andrews heritage.
Many of you, like me after graduating on this very stage in 1984, will be drawn back here to this magical place by an invisible umbilical cord that keeps you connected with St Andrews forever. The years will pass by quickly – believe me. So, as you embark on the next phase of your life remember it is not important how long the journey is, only how good it is. Good luck and bon voyage!
Professor Keith Sillar
School of Psychology and Neuroscience