[Special Feature: 30 Years of SFC] SFC and Me: Insights from the 30th Anniversary Brought by the "Minerva Forest," and the Foundation for the 50th Anniversary

2020/10/07

It has been a full 17 years since I graduated from SFC in the spring of 2003. This academic year marks the 30th anniversary of SFC, a milestone year that began with the entrance ceremony following the renovation of the Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall at the Hiyoshi Campus, and the anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics this summer. For me, it was the spring of my 18th year since graduation, and a year to put my full effort into evolving a class launched jointly with the university last year. This class embodies the "Minerva Forest" message that Hiroshi Kato, the first Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management, instilled in the Keio students of that time upon his retirement.

As a process, we collaborated with Keio students, alumni, and the Endo district of Fujisawa City where the campus is located. As a special SFC 30th anniversary course, with some alumni participating and collaborating, we were just about to open the "Minerva Forest"—a camp-style class utilizing the SBC (Student Built Campus) that explores "living" through the themes of "creating," "guaranteeing," and "producing" food—when the global spread of "COVID-19 (hereafter Corona)" began, changing everything.

As measures to prevent infection, all Keio University campuses were closed, graduation and entrance ceremonies were canceled, and the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. Furthermore, a new lifestyle began in which all classes were conducted "online."

Within that living environment, at the time I am writing this manuscript, all Spring Semester classes have just concluded. Looking back on the classes held from late April to July, the "online-only classes and communication" were extremely suggestive. The reactions of the Keio students who took the classes were wonderful, and I couldn't help but feel that the curtain had opened on a new era.

Among the Keio students, some participated from remote islands, while new students who had just entered also actively took the course. It had become routine for them to participate in all Spring Semester classes and earn credits without ever stepping foot on the SFC campus. Along with the recognition that I was able to accompany an attempt to provide a new perspective in university education, I felt that I could see the same old "SFC-ness" in the constant repetition of problem discovery, proposals, and self-reflection, just as if it were offline.

I feel that the concept of the "Minerva Forest" was originally a form of "parental love" expressed by Mr. Kato to the Keio students, saying, "I want you to return to this Fujisawa and SFC to rest your wings that have grown tired from being swallowed by the waves of the times, and then relearn and move forward again."

However, as a graduate, I spent most of my 17 years without feeling that awareness of the Minerva Forest. In the fall of 2015, when I took over the position of Chairperson of the SFC Mita-kai from my predecessor, I realized once again that this awareness of the Minerva Forest is rooted in the hearts of my seniors even more deeply, and I felt their respect for the place called "SFC" even after graduation.

Why do they hold that feeling? Where does this sense of familiarity, which is not found on other Keio University campuses, come from? This was a question for me and, at the same time, a source of great curiosity as the representative of the Mita-kai. Furthermore, since last year, graduates of SFC have taken on the roles of Deans for both faculties, and the timing for the "visualization of collaboration between the school and alumni" is approaching. With that awareness, I strangely feel that the sense of distance from SFC has become closer than before. This was my own realization upon reaching the 30th anniversary.

That is precisely why I felt more strongly that we could strengthen the collaboration between Keio students and the SFC Mita-kai. I felt that the hint lay in the realization of "visualizing connections," broadly speaking, brought about by the fusion of the online possibilities provided by the Corona pandemic and the traditional offline methods. I believe that the environment brought about by Corona should become an asset that generates the next set of connections.

When I was a student, the evaluation of graduates I heard was, "Why do SFC students quit their companies so quickly?" Many seniors at top-tier major companies resigned early to found venture companies, becoming so-called "entrepreneurs." We couldn't have connections even if we wanted to, and there were fewer supports for venture companies or fans linked to empathy on SNS than there are now. Therefore, employment at top-tier major companies was the mainstream, but in fact, those seniors were starting to create "new connections" by utilizing the connections and networks they had cultivated at the companies they left. I believe that is the reality of why many SFC graduates are now very active in many ventures and new businesses.

Most of the Keio students I shared classes with this Spring Semester were children born around the time I was a student. It was very moving to see in their final class reports how they want to be as human beings 20 years from now and how they are utilizing their time now. The results will not appear immediately, but if we can realize it again 20 years from now—for example, at the "SFC 50th Anniversary"—then the awareness of the "Minerva Forest" will be continuing. In this wonderful 30th anniversary year, I am convinced that I have returned to the Minerva Forest and am welcoming a new 2020.