I’m delighted to be here to say a few words at the start of the 2021 ABCS summit. With the roundtable                                  discussion and the ABCS showcase to follow, all of you certainly have better things to do this afternoon                                than listen to a dean speak, so I’m going to keep these remarks very brief!

 

With all that has been so difficult in the world this past year, I want to tell you all that your community engagement in ABCS courses and projects stands as a continuing example of hope and decency here at Penn and in our home city, Philadelphia. 

 

I want also to sound a theme for you—one that you have learned about so well in these courses and that, I know, will live on in the work you do in your lives beyond this year and after Penn. The theme is one that Ira Harkavy, the Netter Center’s Director, and I have discussed together on more than one occasion: making a contribution. 

 

The notion of “making a contribution” is often applied to worthy scholarly work; but it’s a notion that extends to the good works of people in general. I love its usage in both senses: it emphasizes giving to a community, whether that be a community of scholars or any other community of people. 

 

In participating in ABCS courses, you have made contributions and learned in general about how to go about making contributions, both in a scholarly sense and to our community. And the act of giving you have engaged in has given something to you as well. It is surely no coincidence that the world’s great religions emphasize focusing on others rather than on ourselves as the path to fulfillment and purpose in life—they emphasize, in other words, making a contribution. 

 

So today, in this ABCS Summit, we celebrate together both your learning in ABCS courses and your contributions to community—as we think with hope of the future contributions you will make.

 

Thank you for inviting me to join you today.