GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
DIRECTOR’S RECOGNITION CEREMONY SPEECH
Below are the remarks delivered by Director Peter J. Hoffman at the Recognition Ceremony of the Schools of Public Engagement, May 16.
It is my great honor to play a role in today’s recognition ceremony and on behalf of the entire international affairs faculty I am here to pay tribute to the class of 2024. I don’t want to take too much time because I want to give more time to this new generation of international affairs activists, scholars, and professionals to have their say. But I do want to underscore the difficult terrain they have navigated in completing their studies. As Frantz Fanon wrote, “each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity.” So, allow me to say a word about the contemporary nature of this opacity.
We live in an era where the failure to address underlying structural problems can no longer be denied. Imperialism, colonialism, capitalism, racism, sexism, nationalism, carbonism, narcissistic “isms” of all kinds continue to plague us. The manifestations of this are obvious—a world afflicted by war, genocide, mass atrocities, hunger, poverty, climate change, and other abominations. However, many of the efforts to confront these have misfired or even backfired. The example of this I perhaps know best is the United Nations. The organization’s infuriating inaction in the face of numerous man-made catastrophes illustrates that political theater, divisive tactics, and deadlock strategies preserve the powerful. But what those who are invested in inequality and injustice do not realize is that their time of domination is ending. The crisis of governance is simply too profound, and piecemeal promises and hollow reforms no longer obscure the yoke of repression. And this has been the backdrop for today’s graduates. They have endured not just the naked blunt instruments of power, they have also suffered through disingenuous preaching while the planet burns and people are forsaken, if not forgotten.
Sadly, moreover, some of these dynamics and tensions have distilled down to The New School. We can’t be a university that espouses justice and then turn a blind eye to where we stand on the issues of the day. To that end, it is our moral duty as a place of learning to respect freedom of speech, to disavow violence, and to leverage our power to protect the vulnerable and amplify their voices. When we lose sight of that, we have lost our way as a school—and it doesn’t matter whether the issue is Haiti, Syria, South Sudan, Myanmar, Palestine, artificial intelligence, development policy, forced displacement or policing.
With worldwide trends suggesting the ascendance of authoritarianism, the mission of the Graduate Programs in International Affairs has become more urgent. Our role in the struggle for justice is to teach global civic literacy. Today we pay tribute to our graduates who now join us in efforts to build a more just world. We celebrate their abilities and accomplishments, but also in this difficult moment we recognize their pain and frustration. We hear their demands for input, for justice, and for humane and responsible governance. In a troubled world, it inspires tremendous hope to see them step up and speak out, and we are excited to see the change they invariably will make. To the graduates: congratulations and good luck—now get out there and make yourselves be heard.