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Harvard Arts and Humanities Dean Sean Kelly praised University President Alan M. Garber ’76 for standing up to the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against the University in an address to graduating seniors — and urged them to mimic Garber by defending against “threats to freedom.”
“Even in a free country like our own, there are many threats to freedom,” said Kelly, who is stepping down from his post as the Dunster House faculty dean this year. “As liberally educated individuals, you must nurture the ability to recognize these threats, and you must acknowledge the responsibility to stand against them.”
“Our president, Alan Garber, has been giving a master class in this form of responsibility,” Kelly added.
Kelly’s remarks — which headlined the Senior Valediction, a pre-Commencement gathering of graduating Harvard College seniors — didn’t mention Trump by name, but seemed aimed at the president and his administration’s attempts to force Harvard to bend the knee.
Kelly, a Philosophy professor, invoked Immanuel Kant during his speech, saying Kant believed freedom was not the ability to do whatever one wants. Kelly called such a freedom “a common childish misunderstanding” and seemed to suggest Trump abides by it.
“Unfortunately, you see this kind of childishness in men and public figures today,” he said. “When the desire to break things with reckless abandon or to seek unlawful revenge on your enemies is allowed to proceed without constraint, however, it’s not an expression of freedom, but of immaturity.”
Kelly said that graduates should instead pursue a form of freedom focused on pursuing what is good for society.
“True freedom, Kant says, is not the ability to do whatever you want. It is the ability to become the kind of person who wants to do the things that you can recognize as good — not just good for you, but good in the broader and fuller sense of the word.”
“The aim of a liberal arts education is to form your desires so that they enhance this kind of freedom rather than diminish it,” he added.
Kelly was introduced and followed by outgoing College Dean Rakesh Khurana, who said during his brief remarks that he was “overcome with joy” and urged the new graduates to live their lives to the fullest.
As Khurana closed out his speech, he received a standing ovation from the class.
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David J. Deming, who was recently announced as Khurana’s successor, led a procession of graduating seniors out of the Phillips Brooks House Association courtyard, where the event had taken place.
Deming was trailed by residents from Kirkland House, where he served as faculty dean before accepting the new role as College Dean.
—Staff writer William C. Mao can be reached at william.mao@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @williamcmao.
—Staff writer Akshaya Ravi can be reached at akshaya.ravi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @akshayaravi22.
