"To all of you who received your degrees this spring, my message in English, promised at the commencement ceremony, is in the middle of this diary."
私に許された時間は3分。
ときは3月24日。2023年秋に研究科委員長を拝命して3度目の大学院学位授与式。ご存じの通り、学位授与式は昨年9月の式典から学部卒業式と同日の開催となった。秋は三田で学部・大学院合同の式典であったが、この春は午前に大学院、午後に学部と分かれての開催。うしろに卒業式が控えている関係で、日吉記念館での式典後に実施する政策・メディア研究科の学位記授与セレモニも、非常にタイトなスケジュールとなってしまった。で、「研究科委員長の挨拶は3分でお願いします」となる。
「3分どうぞ」と言われれば30分話してしまうのが大学教員、という都市伝説（ではない？）はさておき、留学生が中心となる秋は基本英語だったので、春の今回は日本語と英語の両方で挨拶するつもりだった。3分、ウーン無理だ。
そこで挨拶の冒頭にこう伝えた。
"I am given only three minutes for this speech. Please allow me to give my speech in English at another chance, such as in Okashira Diary."
約束を果たそうと思う。メモ書きから書き起こしているので、若干書き言葉っぽくなってしまったかもしれない。下手な英語とあわせてご容赦いただきたい。
Congratulations to the 105 of you who received your master's degrees today and to the 13 of you who received your Ph.D. degrees this fall semester. And especially, to the Ph.D., welcome to our side!
You have been active and have achieved results in your research fields, and today you have received your master's and Ph.D. degrees. And now, what were Media and Governance and Academia on your degree certificate? Maybe you have not been very aware of them. So, this is a good opportunity to consider it again.
What did you imagine when you first heard the words Media and Governance? In my opening address upon becoming dean of the graduate school, I wrote "Media and Governance has not yet been established as an academic discipline. It will be organized as an academic domain, someday, by accumulating your achievements and your degrees."
I believe that the Graduate School of Media and Governance is a place to explore and pursue the Science of Engagement. It is an academic domain that discusses, proposes, implements, and demonstrates Media and Policies which connect people, things, the environment, and drive the society, as well as Methodologies and Technologies to realize them. Of course, it is important to understand the targets, people, objects, and the environment involved as a prerequisite for this. There may be students who have achieved results in that domain, basic research. There may be those who have made efforts to make innovations through social implementation of methodologies and technologies. You are all sitting here today because you have mastered your respective fields.
As you all know, the world is still in a very unstable situation. Nevertheless, the master's and Ph.D. degrees you have earned will be a great weapon to open up and move forward in such a world.
If you get tired, please stop occasionally and look back on your days at SFC. And please watch over and sometimes guide the younger students who will follow you, in any way you can.
Finally, I would like to say one more time. Congratulations on getting your degrees today. Good for you!
そして4月。既に新学期も始まり、キャンパスにも活気が戻ってきた。政策・メディア研究科も、修士課程116名、後期博士課程29名の新たな仲間を迎えた。大学院ガイダンスの挨拶でも、同様の話をしたと思う。伊藤塾長は、大学院入学式の式辞の中で「ここにいる全員に博士の学位取得を目指してほしい」と新入生に熱く伝えた。壇上にいた研究科委員長の全員が同じ思いでいただろう。その実現に向けて SFC の3学部と2研究科で何ができるか、それを考えている。
新入生の皆さん、ようこそSFCへ。教職員、在学生一同、心から歓迎します。