2020年度入学式告辞

Today, as we hold the 2020 entrance ceremony, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all 2,786 new students. I can only imagine the joy of their parents and families. Unfortunately, due to measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we must apologize that this will be a representative entrance ceremony in which many new students, guests, and parents will not be able to attend.

Today, all of you entering the university have completed your high school studies, earned the right to be selected, and become students of Tohoku Gakuin University. It is an immense joy for us as a university to welcome you. We respect and accept each and every one of you as an irreplaceable individual, and we promise to support you with all our might for the next four years until your graduation.

Tohoku Gakuin University is the largest private comprehensive university north of Tohoku, with six faculties, six Graduate Schools, and a total student body of over 11,000. It was founded in Sendai in 1886 (Meiji 19) as Sendai Theological Seminary by Masayoshi Oshikawa, who became a member of Japan's first Protestant church, and William Hoy, an American missionary who supported Oshikawa and played a key role in the establishment of the university. This year marks its 134th anniversary. After about five years, Sendai Theological Seminary changed its name to Tohoku Gakuin, and under the leadership of missionary David Schneider, Hoy's successor, it developed into a university in 1949, which it remains today. Since its founding, Tohoku Gakuin has produced over 190,000 graduates. These graduates are doing good work in Sendai, throughout Tohoku, and not only in the world, in all kinds of workplaces and homes.

First, the foundation of the school's educational philosophy, which we call the founding spirit, is defined as "cultivating a sense of reverence for God as shown in the Bible and a spirit of love for one's neighbor, following the example of Jesus Christ, and aiming to nurture individuals who contribute to the development of culture and welfare." We have broken down this founding spirit and adopted three Ls as our school motto: LIFE, LIGHT, and LOVE. These words have been used since the time of Schneider and have long been familiar to graduates of Tohoku Gakuin. LIFE means cherishing the individual dignity that God has given to humanity, in addition to the finite life of living beings; LIGHT means pioneering a new era through the achievements of learning and science; and LOVE means serving the community and the world with love for one's neighbor.

In accordance with this founding principle, a short worship service is held every morning around 10 a.m. at all three campuses of the university. We hope that you will find peace of mind, gaze upon the light from the stained glass windows in the tranquil environment of the chapel, read the Bible, listen to a message based on the Bible, and come to understand the fundamental spirit of the institution.

The era in which you will study and live at university is an "era of great change and crisis." The collapse of the Cold War system 30 years ago and the arrival of the computer-driven information revolution spurred the free movement of people, goods, and capital, leading to what is known as globalization, or "global integration." Artificial intelligence (AI) and data science have created a convenient society, but at the same time, they have drastically changed human life and work. Now, along with learning foreign languages, it is becoming increasingly difficult to live a better life without learning about information and utilizing information technology.

Two crises are upon us in this era of change. One is climate change caused by global warming. Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have gained a convenient and prosperous consumer lifestyle through the use of steam engines and machinery, but we have not faced the negative effects of such production, namely waste heat and waste products. Humans are releasing more greenhouse gases, including CO2, than the Earth's ecosystem can absorb. We cannot forget that Typhoon Hagibis last year intensified due to rising sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, causing immense damage to the Tohoku region. The other is the current COVID-19 pandemic. Due to globalization, the virus arrived from China and spread rapidly within the country and around the world, claiming many lives and forcing us to face this tragic situation.

You, the new students, have entered Tohoku Gakuin University in the midst of this "era of great change and crisis." The coming era is truly unpredictable, like setting sail without a compass. Precisely because of these challenging times, it is essential to acquire a solid foundation of academic ability, specialized knowledge and skills, and to be able to utilize that knowledge and skills while simultaneously developing communication skills and the ability to act responsibly. This kind of person is precisely what our university's founding spirit, Christian character education, aims for.

Tohoku Gakuin University is currently undertaking three major transformations under its medium- to long-term plan, TG GRAND VISION 150, "Learning Richly, and Contributing to the Local Community and the World," which was created in preparation for its 150th anniversary in 2036.

The first change is the innovation in teaching methods. We have started incorporating an active learning approach into our classes. In these classes, instead of rote memorization of what the professor teaches, students are encouraged to actively participate in the class, inspired by the professor's lectures, to investigate, think critically, present their findings, and rigorously evaluate each other's work. To this end, Tohoku Gakuin University has prepared a learning commons in the Hoy Memorial Hall, equipped with the latest IT media facilities.

Secondly, precisely because we live in an information age, we tend to become isolated in the world of virtual reality and lose sight of our connections to real society and our local communities. Tohoku Gakuin University encourages volunteer activities in addition to extracurricular activities such as athletic clubs, cultural groups, and student circles, which are important for character development. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake nine years ago, our university's disaster volunteer station has been a key station for university volunteer activities nationwide. We encourage you to participate in volunteer work, broaden your horizons, and develop the ability to judge what you can do to benefit society and others.

Thirdly, as a university located in Sendai, we aim to provide liberal arts and specialized education that addresses the needs of the Tohoku region and further north. To this end, Tohoku Gakuin University is pursuing a city-center single-campus concept to better meet the needs of the region. Currently under construction, the new Itsutsubashi campus will be completed on the site of the former Faculty of Engineering hospital in the city center, creating an "Tsuchitoi campus" that will connect to the Itsutsubashi campus. The Gobashi campus will open in April 2023, three years from now, so when you freshmen become fourth-year students, all students, including Faculty of Liberal Arts students from Tagajo and liberal arts students from Izumi, will be gathered and studying at Itsutsubashi-Tsuchitoi single campus located in the city center. Therefore, you could say that you will be pioneers of a "new Tohoku Gakuin University."

To the new students of Tohoku Gakuin University: Although classes are scheduled to begin after the holidays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, your four years of university education start today. You are now standing shoulder to shoulder with first-year university students in Japan, and indeed, around the world, on the same starting line. Now that you are free from the pressures of entrance exams, you should consider that four years as a university student is longer than three years as a high school student. These four years of learning will undoubtedly prepare you for your future growth. Of course, the university will provide ample support, but it is no exaggeration to say that your future will depend on your motivation to learn. Finally, I would like to share a quote from the Bible: "Ask, and it will be given to you... Knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).

April 2, 2020
Haruki Onishi, President of Tohoku Gakuin University