Students, distinguished faculty and staff -- good evening. I'm here tonight to have a conversation with you. To talk about the progress we as a community are making, the setbacks we have encountered and the obstacles we must overcome.
This conversation is indeed long overdue. You've heard snippets, sound bites and half-answers to your questions, and the time for that has come to an end. At a university where "tradition" has been for so long conspicuously absent, we are about to do something historic: create one.
For the first time in this University's history, the president will make himself directly accountable to the students, faculty and staff who make this institution what it is. And I hope that, as you see fit, future presidents will be called upon, from time to time, to do the same.
In my tenure as president, this university has taken on some weighty tasks: it has influenced policy, questioned power and saved countless lives. Our influence has stretched beyond the boundaries of this campus, penetrated the halls of power, and shaped events, opinions and ideas across the world. From the researcher monitoring violence in Iraq to the student tutoring young children in Baltimore, this institution has had a vast and important impact on the city, country and world as a whole. And that is, of course, all thanks to you.
As president, I am merely a figurehead. It's true that I can dictate policy, influence funding and shape this university's influence at home and abroad. But the most important thing I can do, more important than any of the committees I sit on or decisions I make, is talk. I can talk about you -- to donors, peer institutions and the public at large -- and I can talk to you, about the things you think need improvement and the things you outright dislike. I certainly can't change everything but, as president, I owe you at least that.
So let's talk. Last week, it was announced that your tuition will once again go up at a rate higher than inflation, this time at 5.9 percent.
Goods and services are getting more expensive all the time and so is higher education. Many of you are frustrated, and I understand. Even with increases in funding for financial aid, it has become difficult to sustain the record cost of a college education, especially for the millions of American families who are struggling to keep up.
Several years ago, this university set the ambitious and long overdue goal of keeping annual rises in tuition under five percent. We succeeded for as long as we could, and improved our ability to provide financial assistance at the same time. And, while I do believe that our departure from that policy was necessary to provide support for our ever-expanding academic agenda, upgrade our security system and make living at Hopkins a more pleasant experience, I think a return to reason is in order. College tuitions cannot rise forever, and I intend to see that they don't.
Starting tonight, I will ask the board of trustees to engage in a two-phased tuition-reduction plan. First, we will return to the five-percent ceiling for as long as it is necessary to do so, and in subsequent years we will work to gradually decrease annual rises in tuition until they no longer exceed the rate of inflation.
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It was also disclosed last week that the University will no longer award three academic credits for unpaid student internships, without an accompanying research project or independent study. The deans and I felt this change was necessary in order to preserve the academic legitimacy of the credits we award.
Nonetheless, I understand that internships have become increasingly crucial for professional success after graduation, and that the average American family -- especially as college tuitions continue to rise -- cannot sustain the financial burden of supporting a student in an unpaid summer internship without getting something substantial in return.
Because the committee that changed this policy did so secretly, with limited student input and a less-than-open mind, I have ordered an immediate review of its decision. A new committee with more student participation and public, on-the-record meetings will convene with the goal of bolstering the academic rigor associated with unpaid student internships while keeping in mind the average student's financial and professional interests. If we want our students to be leaders in their fields and successful in their careers, we should work to make doing so easier, not harder.
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Rather than merely annually reenacting the tradition we started here tonight, I hope to pursue an evolving dialogue that will attract more voices, take on more challenges and solve more problems than ever before. And, all the while, we'll do so with full transparency, a keen intellectual temperament and an optimistic outlook on what we, as a community, can do. Thank you, and good night.
