Back to the Beginning: A Dream | Jun Murai (Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies)
2009.10.08
It has been over 20 years, including the preparatory stages of SFC's founding. When I think about it, I have already spent more than a third of my life at SFC (I'd like to say half, but not quite), and now I have become the Dean of the SFC Faculty of Environment and Information Studies. I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your continued support for SFC.
By the way, I spent the last four years as a Vice-President of Keio University. I have two main takeaways from this experience. One is that I was able to learn about and get to know Keio University as a whole once again. The other is that I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle, and SFC seems incredibly fresh to me. Being a Vice-President when Keio University celebrated its 150th anniversary and the Dean when SFC celebrates its 20th is a very fortunate coincidence. This background is also why I can approach the start of SFC's third decade with a fresh perspective.
It goes without saying that the core of Keio University is its founding philosophy. In fact, I was born in Shinanomachi, so I have literally been indebted to Keio University since birth, but my time as Vice-President provided an opportunity to learn about the founder, Yukichi Fukuzawa, and his philosophy in various ways. I also had many opportunities to compare the Juku with other universities. Through these experiences, what I found truly amazing about Keio University is the fundamental attitude of its faculty, staff, and Keio University alumni, who always return to Yukichi Fukuzawa and the founding philosophy to tackle challenges, and how this attitude is deeply rooted in and supports them. I have often thought that having a founder and a philosophy to return to is an incredibly powerful and fortunate thing.
SFC is now 20 years old, and it too was founded after overcoming various challenges. The vision and passion of its founders, including Professor Kato and Professor Aiso, launched this campus, and as members of SFC, we can always return to this starting point. This is also a powerful and fortunate thing. Furthermore, its 20-year history is both reliable and robust. Just as Professor Kato said, the "Owls of Minerva" (our graduates) who have flown from the "Forest of Minerva" (SFC) are truly beginning to bring light to the darkness in Japan and the world!
SFC is often said to be difficult to grasp, but I don't think so at all. We are a university blessed with a founding philosophy to return to, a campus blessed with the philosophy of its founders, and graduates who have taken shape and are soaring. With all these elements firmly in place, we can make a clear, powerful, and new start.
(Posted on: 2009/10/08)