For the details on the ceremony, see the news.
Congratulations on your enrollment at Niigata University. I would like to express my sincere congratulations on behalf of the university. I would also like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to your family and others who have supported you.
Starting this year, the Common Test for University Admissions was held instead of the National Center Test for University Admissions. And you had to take the entrance examinations in the extraordinary circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic. It obviously caused you stress and anxiety. We, faculty and staff members, share the same feeling with you as we had to implement the examination with great care considering the prevention of the coronavirus infection and other concerns.
In such difficult circumstances, you survived the studying and the exams and made it to our university. I am certain that you are filled with joy and expectations. But at the same time you must be feeling anxious and nervous about what your campus life will be like in the continuing pandemic.
Under normal circumstances, we would have held a university-wide entrance ceremony at Toki Messe to give new students a royal welcome, but due to the coronavirus pandemic continuing since last year, we have decided to perform the entrance ceremony separately for each faculty and graduate program, and have my congratulatory message and the oath by the representative of new students viewable online. It is a great pity that I cannot meet you physically to make a congratulatory speech in front of you in a pleasant spring setting, but I hope you will understand our decision.
In this occasion, I would like to introduce Niigata University’s philosophy to you.
It is "Autonomy and Creativity." Literally, "Autonomy" means to behave conforming to your own norms, and "Creativity" means to produce something new. I would like you to keep the message of this philosophy in mind as you start your campus life.
What kind of future is waiting for you? Can you imagine the future?
Looking back, so many things have happened in the past ten years. On March 11, exactly a decade ago, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, which caused a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 Power Plant. And since last year we continue to be faced with the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic. Unpredictable serious incidents and challenges like these will be awaiting you in your journey ahead. In such circumstances, I hope you will take leadership to overcome them as a proud member of our alumni community. I believe that our philosophy “Autonomy and Creativity” will then serve as a guide for you.
Due to the continuing pandemic, many aspects of campus life will be constrained. But it will eventually disappear even though it may take time. I am certain that, by the time you graduate, we can overcome the pandemic and there will be a new beginning.
So, for now, please ask yourself positively what you can do under these constraints, how you can take advantage of the circumstances of adversity, and what you can do based on your experience with the pandemic after it is over. Please maximize your intellectual curiosity even in the pandemic, always stay positive and lead a fruitful campus life.
Please also think for yourself, not for others, how to live your life in the pandemic. I want you to establish your own norms and build a habit of thinking over things. In other words, you are required to make decisions by seeing and hearing things with your own eyes and ears and finding truth yourself. This is the autonomy and creativity that we at the Niigata University ask you to adopt.
Niigata University is a large-scale comprehensive university. We are a “repository of knowledge” bringing together experts from an array of academic fields. So, you can have opportunities not only to deepen your expertise in your study area but also to learn things beyond its boundaries. There will be field work away from the desk. You may have an opportunity to study abroad after the pandemic is over. Even amid the present pandemic, a variety of online activities are ongoing, such as exchanges of communication with students and researchers from around the world. You are encouraged to experience a variety of encounters while you are in university, which will definitely prove to be of great help to you.
Unlike school exam questions, there are not always answers to the issues and challenges you may encounter in your studies at university. More often than not, there will be no obvious answers or solutions to them. But the power to face the future is generated from direct confrontation with those issues and problems. You will also need the courage to deal with those unsolved problems and the tenacity to overcome them.
Embracing our philosophy “Autonomy and Creativity,” please take every opportunity to encounter diverse disciplines and people, and actively engage in a variety of activities while you are in university. Please also develop genuine strength that is supple but unbreakable like a willow tree, which is the official city tree of Niigata City.
I am confident that the strength will serve as a great advantage for you when you embark on your journey from campus to corporate life. I would like to conclude my speech here and look forward to seeing you as a full-fledged human being at your graduation. Congratulations and welcome to our university.
April 2021
USHIKI Tatsuo, M.D., Ph.D.
President, Niigata University
各位新同学，首先，请允许我代表全校师生员工，向你们表示最衷心的祝贺和最热烈的欢迎！ 对一直以来支持你们的家长们，老师们也表示最衷心的祝贺！
尤其是今年，除了被称为“日本高考”的入学中心考试变成了共通考试之外，还面临着严峻的新冠疫情，想必这次高考对大家而言既抱着各种不安又充满了紧张吧。 对于我们教职工而言，从如何预防感染到考试结束，气氛紧张，今年与以往不同，成为了特殊的高考之年。
正因为大家在如此严峻的形势下熬过了备考的每一天，才拿到了大学录取通知书，想必大家在终于可以放心，松一口气的同时，又充满了喜悦与期待吧。 此外，想必大家也对新冠疫情下的大学生活抱着许许多多的不安和困惑吧。
说实话，若在往年，我们会在朱鹭展览馆隆重地举办全校级的入学典礼，共同分享喜悦，但由于从去年持续至今的新冠疫情，我的致辞和新生代表的宣誓都变成了这种视频的方式，入学典礼也改成了在各学部或研究科分别举行。 无法在明媚的春光里与大家相见，直接表示祝贺，我深感遗憾，但希望大家能给予谅解。
在大家入学之际，我首先想要告诉大家的就是新潟大学的理念。
新潟大学的理念是“自律与创生”。 正如其字面意思所言，“自律”就是按照自己制定的规范去行动，“创生”就是创造新事物。 请同学们从入学开始就将这一理念铭记于心。
今后，大家生存的时代将会变成怎样？ 大家可以想像吗？ 反躬自问，其实在这短短10年里发生了许许多多的事情。
就在10年前的3月11日，发生了东日本大地震。 随之而来的是福岛第一核电站事故。 之后，从去年开始，我们又面临着COVID-19全球大流行的考验。 在同学们今后生存的时代里，想必一定还会再有像这样无法预测的重大事件发生，你们还会面临着各种各样的考验吧。 那个时候，我希望曾在新潟大学学习过的你们能充分发挥领导才能，闯过难关！而且我相信：那时，“自律与创生”的理念将会成为大家前进的路标！
即将开始的大学生活仍因新冠疫情的持续而受到各种各样的制约。 但是，即使再花一些时间，相信新冠疫情必将结束！ 等到你们毕业时，战胜了新冠疫情之后的新时代必将到来。
在那之前，希望大家能保持积极乐观的态度，最大限度张开想象的翅膀，认真思考在受制约的情况下可以做什么？或反过来利用制约看看有没有能做的事情？能不能将其活用于新冠疫情之后？像这样，期盼大家的大学生活都能有所收获。
在此过程中，关于如何在新冠疫情下生存，不要盲目地照搬他人，而是要尝试自己思考。 而且，还希望大家能养成自己制定自己的规范去思考事物的习惯。 这是一种自己仔细观察或倾听事物、用自己的眼睛去分辨事实并做出判断的能力。 这就是新潟大学要求大家的“自律与创生”。
新潟大学是一所大型综合大学。 它是各学术领域专家汇聚而成的“知识据点”。 因此，你们不仅能在这里学到自己专业领域的知识，还能超越自己的专业领域，学到各种各样的知识。 此外，不仅会有离开课桌的实地调查，一旦疫情结束，还会有留学的机会。 当然，即使在疫情期间，大家也能以在线方式开展各种各样的活动，与海外的同学和研究人员进行交流。 希望你们在大学期间能有各种各样的相遇。 相信那一定会成为你前进的动力！
而且，大学的学习应该不会像高中之前的试题一样都会有答案。 相反，想必大家会常常遇到无解的课题和问题。 但是，开创未来的力量就来源于如何认真对待这些课题与问题。 你们还需要有面对这些无解之题的勇气和将其攻克的毅力。
各位新同学，请大家将新潟大学的理念铭记于心——“自律与创生”，在大学生活中接触多种多样的学问与人，积极投身于各项活动，掌握如新潟市象征的柳枝般柔和而不屈的“真才实学”。
我相信，当不久之后你们从新潟大学毕业踏入社会时，那一定会变成你们的支柱。 我期待着在毕业时，能够见到更成熟，更理智的你们！我的致辞到此结束。 最后，再次祝贺大家。
2021年4月
新潟大学校长 牛木辰男