Summers assured new students that they too will get lost and confused and advised them that they should enjoy the acclimation process.

Summers also spoke on the typical opening exercises topics of making the most of one’s time here, appreciating the diverse and talented class students have become a part of, and finding one’s passions.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 was the first to officially address the class at the opening exercises, and introduced Summers. Musical interludes by the Harvard and Radcliffe choruses separated speeches by Lewis, Summers, Dean of Freshman Elizabeth Studley “Ibby” Nathans and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles.

The ceremony was conducted under a cloudless sky marred only by a loudly circling helicopter.

Knowles’ speech drew occasional laughs, but it was his improvisation that the crowd most appreciated: when the helicopter circled low above Tercentenary Theatre, partially drowning out Knowles’ distinct British voice, the dean joked that it was a late-arriving first-year.

—Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.