2026年度 秋学期入学式式辞／President’s Address at the Convocation Ceremony for the Fall 2026 Semester
2026年9月21日
式辞
本日は、同志社大学が大切にしてきた「真理」と「良心」についてお話ししたいと思います。その最初の手がかりとなるのが、この寒梅館です。
寒梅館の名は、同志社の創立者・新島襄の漢詩「真理似寒梅敢侵風雪開」（真理は寒梅のごとし。あえて風雪を侵して開く）に由来します。寒梅は、なお寒さの残る時期に、風雪に抗うかのように花を開きます。真理は厳しい状況や逆境の中でこそ見いだされ、忍耐を通して近づくものだと新島は伝えようとしたのでしょう。簡単に得られる答えの中に、必ずしも真理があるとは限りません。
近年、生成AIは急速に発展し、質問すれば即座に説得力のある答えを示してくれます。先端技術は確かに便利です。しかし、便利さに身を委ねるだけでは、その答えが自分にどのような意味を持ち、真理へ近づく道を示すのかを見極めることはできません。AIを用いるからこそ、答えを受け取るだけでなく、自ら問い、確かめ、忍耐強く考え抜く姿勢が求められます。皆さんには、風雪の中で花を開く寒梅のような人物であってほしいと思います。
さて、「真理」という言葉は、同志社大学のエンブレムにも記されています。エンブレムにはクラーク記念館が描かれ、その下にラテン語の「VERITAS LIBERABIT VOS」（ウェーリタース・リーベラービト・ウォース）が記されています。この言葉は新約聖書の「ヨハネによる福音書」に由来し、「真理はあなたたちを自由にする」を意味します。つまり、同志社における真理の探究は、知識を得ることにとどまらず、人がより自由に生きるための営みでもあります。
皆さんは、さまざまな国籍や文化的背景をお持ちです。学生の多様性は、大学での学びに欠かせません。異なる視点との出会いを通して、新しい世界を見ることができるからです。一方、現実の世界では、国家間の争いに加え、多くの国の内部でも民族・宗教・出自の違いが緊張や対立を生んでいます。このように混迷する時代だからこそ、事実を多角的に確かめ、真理を粘り強く探究する学問の力が重要です。皆さんには、情報の波に流されることなく、自ら考えるための知的な土台を築いてほしいと思います。そして、本学の教職員や学友との出会いと対話を通して、異なる他者と共に学ぶ力を身につけ、より自由な存在となっていくことを期待しています。
昨年、同志社は創立150周年を迎えました。これを機に、同志社大学は新たなビジョン「共に知る、共に変わる――With a Good Conscience」を策定しました。「共に知る」は「conscience（良心）」の原義に通じる言葉です。重要な局面で良心を語った新島の理念を受け継ぎ、実践するという思いが込められています。善悪を判断する前に、まず「共に知る」こと。分断と対立が深まる現代では、この当たり前のことが難しくなっています。困難な課題を「共に知る」経験を重ねれば、私たちは「共に変わる」ことができます。他者と共に真理を問い続けるところに良心による学びがあります。
新島にとって、良心は自由と真理に深く結びつき、既存の秩序を超えて人を新たなステージへと押し出す力でした。また新島は、新しい教育によって人と社会を変えることができるとの強い信念を持っていました。私たちが150年の伝統に安住せず、「共に知り、共に変わる」挑戦を続けてこそ、良心をもつ人々を育て、良心を社会に広げることができるでしょう。
この寒梅館での入学式から、皆さんの学生生活が始まります。創立150周年という大きな節目を経て、真理を共に探究する知の共同体に、新入生の皆さんをお迎えできることをうれしく思います。あらためて、皆さんのご入学を心から祝福し、今後の実り多き学生生活をお祈りして、私の式辞といたします。
Convocation Address
Congratulations on your entering Doshisha University. It is my great pleasure to welcome you here at Kambaikan on the Imadegawa Campus. Welcome to Doshisha University. I would like to express my deep respect to all of you gathering here today for your past efforts. I would also like to extend my congratulations to your families and acquaintances who have nurtured and watched over you until this day.
Today, I would like to talk about “truth” and “conscience” that Doshisha University has valued since its founding. I will begin with the origin of this building, Kambaikan.
The name Kambaikan was taken from the Chinese poem by our founder, Joseph Hardy Neesima, “Truth is like a plum blossom in the cold. It dares to bloom, braving storms and snows.” Like the plum blossom that blooms in the cold weather as if to resist the wind and snow, Neesima meant to say that truth is found in harsh and adverse circumstances, and that it is through perseverance that you can reach the truth. Truth is not necessarily in easily obtained answers.
In recent years, generative AIs have advanced rapidly, giving us convincing answers immediately after we ask a question. Cutting-edge technology is certainly convenient, but if you only enjoy the convenience, you cannot recognize what the answer means to you or how it points the way to the truth. AI users are expected to be willing to ask questions, examine them, and think them through patiently on their own, rather than simply receiving answers. I would like each of you to be like a plum blossom blooming in storms and snow.
The emblem of Doshisha University also features the Latin word for truth. It depicts Clarke Memorial Hall, beneath which the Latin phrase “VERITAS LIBERABIT VOS” is inscribed. This message is taken from the Gospel of John in the New Testament and means “the truth will set you free.” In other words, the pursuit of truth at Doshisha is not limited to the acquisition of knowledge but is regarded as striving to live more freely.
Each of you comes from a diverse ethnic and cultural background. A diverse student body is essential to learning at the university because it exposes students to different perspectives and helps them see the world more broadly. In the real world, however, ethnic, religious, or class differences cause tensions and conflicts between nations and even within a country. Learning that involves examining facts from multiple angles and persistently seeking the truth is even more important in such a chaotic era. I expect you all to develop an intellectual foundation that enables you to think for yourself without being swept up in the flood of information, and to learn alongside people from different backgrounds by meeting and interacting with teachers and classmates, so that you will grow into a freer person.
On the occasion of Doshisha’s 150th anniversary of its founding last year, Doshisha University issued a new vision called “Know together, change together - With a Good Conscience.” “Know together” is the original meaning of the word “conscience,” and it represents our commitment to inheriting and pursuing the philosophy of Neesima, who spoke about conscience on important occasions. “Knowing together” before judging good and bad is a basic mindset, but with deepening divides and conflicts today, it is becoming increasingly difficult. We can “change together” by accumulating experiences of “knowing together” difficult problems. Learning with conscience means continuing to question what truth is, together with others.
For Neesima, conscience was deeply connected to freedom and truth, and it served as a force that pushed people to a new stage beyond the existing system. Neesima also strongly believed that people and society can be changed through a new form of education. We can nurture people with conscience and spread the idea of conscience across society only if we continue our endeavor to “know together and change together,” rather than being content with our 150-year tradition.
Your student life begins with the convocation ceremony here in Kambaikan. Having celebrated the 150th anniversary of our founding, I am pleased to welcome you, our new students, to this community of knowledge where we pursue truth together. I would like to conclude my address by congratulating you on your enrollment and wishing you a fruitful and productive student life.