麗澤大学 学長告辞

本日ここに、令和2年度、麗澤大学学位記授与式を挙行するにあたり、麗澤大学を代表いたしまして、お祝いの挨拶を申し上げます。

　卒業生の皆さん、本日は誠におめでとうございます。こうして、今日の日をこの慣れ親しんだ学び舎で、親しい友人や恩師と集い、新たな門出を迎えられますこと、心より嬉しく思っております。また、これまで本学での修学を支え、この日を待ちわびておられたご家族、保証人の皆様はお喜びもひとしおと存じます。心よりお祝いを申し上げます。さらに後援会、麗澤校友会をはじめ、多くの関係者の皆様方には、日頃から本学の教育・研究活動に対し、深いご理解とご支援を賜り、厚く御礼申し上げます。新型コロナウイルス感染拡大防止のため、本日は大変残念ながら皆様の参列をご遠慮いただき、様々な場所でライブ配信をご覧いただいていることと存じます。この場をお借りし、重ねて感謝申し上げます。

　昨年1月、新型コロナウイルスの国内初感染が確認されてから約１年が経ちました。3月の学位記授与式は中止せざるを得ず、4月に緊急事態宣言が発出されたことにより、１学期は、学生・教職員の健康・安全の確保を第一と考え、大学キャンパスの入構を禁じ、オンライン授業を導入しました。２学期に入り、検温・消毒の徹底やソーシャル・ディスタンスの確保などの感染対策を実施した上で、一部の授業で対面方式を再開し、少しだけ学内に活気が戻りましたが、千葉県下の感染者数は減少せず、大学祭の中止や課外活動の制限といった措置を取らざるを得ませんでした。さらに、今年1月には再度の緊急事態宣言が発出されるに至り、本日の学位記授与式では、新型コロナウイルス感染予防対策をしっかり行い、卒業生と教職員のみが参加という、例年とは異なる形で執り行わせていただきました。

　さて、今年度は、学士653名、博士2名、修士19名に学位を授与し、総数674名の卒業生を送り出すことになります。この学士、あるいは博士・修士の学位記は、皆さんが麗澤大学で学んだ成果であり、努力して取得した証しであります。心から祝福いたします。

　本日、卒業および修了された学部生、大学院生の中には78名の外国人留学生が含まれており、出身は9の国と地域に及びます。言語・文化・習慣が異なる環境の中で、見事に学業を成就された留学生の皆さんのこれまでのご努力に深く敬意を表します。母国や国際社会で飛躍されることを願っております。

　本日、本学を巣立って行かれる皆さんの洋々たる前途を祝し、2つのことを申し上げたいと思います。

　第一は、皆さんが、これから新しい一歩を踏み出す世界は、大きな激動期の中にあるということです。ICT革命による第4次産業の台頭、メガ自由貿易協定によるビジネス・経済のグローバル化、新型コロナウイルス感染症の世界的流行など、現代の世界経済は混沌としており、なかなか先が見えない時代でもあり、様々な危機が迫っております。しかし、危機とは新しい始まりでもあります。そして、危機の時代には新しい人材が求められます。

　実は、本学の前身である道徳科学専攻塾が開設された昭和10（1935）年は、昭和恐慌、ブロック経済化など我が国が一連の危機に見舞われた時代でした。これらの危機を打破するために、本学の創立者である廣池千九郎（法学博士）は、鈴木貫太郎侍従長や斎藤実首相等の要人に対し、道徳に基づく政治・財政改革の必要性を提言するとともに、知識と道徳を両輪とする人材こそが社会に役立つという「知徳一体」の教育を行い、多くのリーダーを輩出しました。時代が大きく変化しても、この麗澤教育の理念である「知徳一体」、これを実学的に展開した「道徳経済一体」思想や「自分、相手、第三者を生かす三方よし」の考え方は不変です。どうか皆さん、麗澤大学で学んだ「道徳」をコンパスに、なかなか先が見えない不確実な時代を渡りきっていただきたい。

　第二は、私事で恐縮ですが、ほぼ40数年前に、私が学部卒業のときに恩師からいただいた言葉です。「少にして学べば、壮にして為すことあり」、「壮にして学べば、老いて衰えず」、「老いて学べば、死して朽ちず」。これは、幕末の儒学者、佐藤一斎の『言志四録』の中の、有名な言葉です。「青年時代に学べば、働き盛りの壮年時代に活躍でき、壮年時代に学べば、老年になって気力が満ち、老年時代に学べば、亡くなった後もその人望は朽ちない」と説いた言葉で、若いときから本気で常に学び続けることの重要性を説いています。

　どうか、現状に甘んじることなく、チャレンジ精神を持って、「品格あるグローバル・リーダー」となるべく常に学び続け、未来を拓いていただきたい、ということを申し上げて、卒業のはなむけの言葉といたします。

2021年3月14日
麗澤大学　学長　徳永　澄憲

2020年度　麗澤大学学位記授与式　学長告辞 / Message from the President of Reitaku University At the Degree Conferral Ceremony, 2020 Academic Year | 麗澤大学

Message from the President of Reitaku University

Today, on behalf of the university, I would like to offer my congratulations to all concerned on the occasion of the Reitaku University Degree Conferral Ceremony for the 2020 academic year.

It is my sincere pleasure to welcome, as well as to congratulate, all graduating students to this day of new beginnings in the familiar surroundings of our university, where you can gather with your close friends and former teachers. I would also like to express my heartfelt congratulations to all the family members and guarantors who have supported these students and have been waiting for this day. In addition, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the supporters’ association, the Reitaku Alumni Association, and the many others involved for your deep understanding of the education and research activities of the university, and for the support you give to them. In order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, I very much regret that you are not able to attend today’s meeting, but hope you will enjoy the live broadcast in various locations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you again.

It has been more than a year since the first case of the Covid-19 was confirmed in Japan last January, resulting in the cancellation of our degree conferment ceremony in March and the declaration of a state of emergency in April. During the first semester, students could not access the campus, and online classes were introduced to ensure the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff. In the second semester, face-to-face learning resumed in some classes after putting in place infection control policies such as thorough temperature checks, disinfection measures and appropriate social distancing, and the campus became a little more lively. However, the number of infected students in Chiba Prefecture did not decrease, and we were forced to take measures including the cancellation of the university festival and the placing of restrictions on extracurricular activities. Furthermore, in January this year, a renewed state of emergency was declared, and today’s degree conferment ceremony is being held in a different format to previous years, with measures to prevent the pandemic spreading and only graduates and faculty members participating.

This year, we are awarding 653 bachelor’s degrees, 2 doctoral degrees, and 19 master’s degrees, bringing the total number of graduates to 674. These bachelor’s, doctoral, and master’s degrees are the fruits of your studies at Reitaku University, and of all your hard work and dedication. I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart.

Among the undergraduate and graduate students graduating today are 78 international students from nine different countries and regions. I would like to express my deepest respect for the efforts of these international students who have successfully completed their studies in an environment different in language, culture, and customs from their own. I hope that you will go on to achieve much in your home countries and in international society.

Allow me to say two things to all of you who are leaving this university today.

The first is that the world in which you are about to take your first steps is experiencing a period of great upheaval: a fourth industrial is in progress thanks to the impact of ICT, the globalization of business and the economy through mega free trade agreements, and the global epidemic of the Covid-19 infection. We now live in an era where the future is uncertain and various crises loom. However, a crisis is also a new beginning and, in such times, new human resources will be required.

As a matter of fact, in 1935, the year when our university’s predecessor, the Moralogy College, was established, Japan was being hit by a series of crises, including the Showa Depression and the shift to a block economy. In order to overcome these crises, Chikuro Hiroike (Doctor of Law), the founder of the school, proposed to important figures such as Kantaro Suzuki, the Lord Chamberlain, and Makoto Saito, the Prime Minister, the necessity of political and financial reforms based on moral principles. At the same time, he also implemented a form of education based on the concept of “Knowledge and Virtue as One,” which means that people who possess both knowledge and virtue are useful to society, producing many leaders. Even though times have altered dramatically since then, Reitaku’s educational philosophy, “Knowledge and Virtue as One,” and the practical application of this philosophy, “Morality and Economy as One,” as well as the concept of “Sampo-yoshi,” which means making the best use of oneself, others, and third parties, remains unchanged. I hope that all of you will use the “morality” that you learned at Reitaku University as your compass to navigate the uncertain times that lie ahead.

Secondly, I would like to share with you the words my teacher said to me when I completed my own undergraduate studies more than 40 years ago; If you learn when you are young, you will be able to do something when you are old. This encapsulates the famous saying of Issai Sato, a Confucian scholar of the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate. If you learn in your youth, you will be able to play an active role in your prime years of life, if you learn in your prime years, you will be full of energy in your old age, and if you learn in your old age, your popularity will not decay even after your death. These words stress the importance of continuing to learn seriously and constantly from a young age.

I hope that, far from being complacent about your current situation, you will be inspired the challenges before you to continue to learn and to develop your future so as to become “global leaders of high character.”

March 14, 2021
Suminori Tokunaga, Ph.D.
President of Reitaku University