Bill Gates' Speech at Harvard
Members of the Harvard Family:
Here in the Yard is
one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world.
For what purpose?
There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students,
and the benefactors of Harvard have used their power
to improve the lives of people here and around the world.
But can we do more?
Can Harvard dedicate its intellect
to improving the lives of people
who will never even hear its name?
Let me make a request of the deans and the professors-
the intellectual leaders here at Harvard:
As you hire new faculty, award tenure,
review curriculum, and determine degree requirements,
please ask yourselves:
Should our best minds
be more dedicated to solving our biggest problems?
Should Harvard encourages its faculty
to take on the world's worst inequities?
Should Harvard students
know about the depth of global poverty…
the prevalence of world hunger…
the scarcity of clean water…
the girls kept out of school…
the children who die from diseases we can cure?
Should the world's most privileged
learn about the lives of the world's least privileged?
These are not rhetorical questions-
you will answer with your policies.
My mother, who was filled with pride
the day I was admitted here,
never stopped pressing me to do more for others.
A few days before I was married,
she hosted a bridal event,
at which she read aloud a letter about marriage
that she had written to Melinda.
My mother was very ill with cancer at the time,
but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message,
and at the close of the letter she said:
"From those to whom much is given, much is expected."
When you consider what those of us here in this Yard
have been given-in talent, privilege, and opportunity-
there is almost no limit
to what the world has a right to expect from us.