President Jonathan Levin's remarks at Opening Convocation

This is the speech at the 136th Convocation on Sept. 15, 2026. President Jonathan Levin welcomes the Class of 2030. He says the future is something you build, not something that happens to you.

First-years, transfer students, and families: Welcome to Stanford. We are glad you are here. We saw you moving in this morning. That makes me happy. Parents and families, we saw your faces and felt pride.

I will make a small prediction. It is based on a little evidence. You will probably not remember much of this talk. But you will remember how it felt to arrive at Stanford.

In fall 1990 I came to Stanford. A blue Super Shuttle bus dropped me and my two bags in front of Wilbur Hall. I remember the sun, meeting a few people, and seeing my room. Have the rooms changed? No. We call it a mix.

I chose Stanford for openness and possibility. I chose the spirit of exploring new ideas. It did not disappoint. I am here today, and I am excited to see you start your own journeys.

This weekend I was going to Florida to watch another Stanford explorer begin a space mission. Jessica Watkins came to Stanford in fall 2006. She wanted to be an astronaut. I grew up wanting to play for the New York Yankees, so these dreams do not always come true, but Jessica's did.

At Stanford Jessica studied earth science. She was a star on the women's rugby team and won a national championship as a sophomore. She did a summer internship at NASA Ames Research Center and studied how to grow plants in Martian soil. These experiences helped her to get a PhD and be chosen for NASA's astronaut program. Today she is the commander of Crew-13 to the International Space Station, her second trip. Stanford has graduated 27 astronauts, and more female astronauts than any civilian university.

I hoped to point to Jessica in orbit, but the launch was postponed. I cannot wait to be there when it happens. Maybe one day I will see Jessica walk on the Moon or on Mars.

This path ties into something I have thought about all summer.

This fall I teach COLLEGE 101, a new class for me. My field is economics. COLLEGE 101 looks at the role of education in helping you live a good life.

A feature of our freshman plan is that we invite teachers from across campus. Some of you will have literary scholars, others a physicist, a physician, or an economist who is now a university president.

This summer I read many things: Plato, Du Bois, Tagore, Dangarembga, Epicurus, Seneca. Tara Westover's memoir. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. These readings are about what education should look like, or about education in different times and places. You will talk about them during the quarter.

The readings raise a simple question: What makes a Stanford education special? How will it prepare you for a good life?

First, freedom to explore. Many schools have a fixed plan. Stanford is different. You begin a real journey of discovery. You can take classes in many fields and meet new ideas. You can change your mind. Changing your mind is a big part of education. In my first year I arrived with no idea of what to study. I took a class on Eastern philosophy, a seminar on Dostoyevsky, and a hard math class. I ended up studying English and math. Jessica Watkins started as an engineer and moved to Earth science.

Second, the idea that a university should have experts. In Stanford, teachers and students learn together. You will learn from professors who work in a field for many years. You will ask questions and make the professor explain their work and why it matters. The exchange goes both ways. I have done this. One project began when a student spent his junior summer at a used car dealership in Tucson. We wrote a paper about it. We learned a lot. The student and his classmates started what is now the most successful used car company in the United States.

Third, the campus itself. Dean Shaw spoke about you. You are impressive and wide-ranging, but you are here to become someone. Much of that will happen by being with each other—in dorms, in dining halls, in rehearsal rooms, cheering on Stanford teams, or swimming in the fountains.

What I hope you will share is Stanford's culture: the pursuit of excellence, openness to ideas, and optimism. At the heart of this culture is a belief in our ability to work together and solve problems, and a belief that the future is something you build.

You, class of 2030, are arriving at a moment of big change. Even here, in a place that started the semiconductor industry, modern computer design, and the Internet age, no one can forecast exactly how it will unfold.

But think of this: if you had a blank sheet of paper and you could design a place today, what would you want? A place with freedom to explore and adapt. A place with expertise across many fields— science, technology, humanities, arts, and social sciences. A place that looks forward and works to solve problems. So you are in the right place.