Reception in honour of Naughton Scholars
Saloon, Provost's House
23 September 2013
Martin and Carmel Naughton, and Naughton Family – Fiona, Neil, and Fergal and Rachael; and all the Trinity Naughton Scholars.
It’s a great honour and a pleasure to welcome you here to the Provost’s House. Today we celebrate the generosity and vision of the Naughton family, and we recognise the ambition of the Trinity students in receipt of Naughton scholarships in science, engineering, technology, and maths – the so-called STEM subjects.
Trinity is a multidisciplinary university of 24 Schools, ranging from Business to Law to Engineering to History. This diversity and range enables the interdisciplinarity that gives Trinity its special character. But like other universities round the country, we’ve noticed that the STEM subjects were not quite getting the number of first-class applicants we’d like. While Medicine and Law are always immensely popular, even oversubscribed, these STEM subjects need a boost to attract the very best applicants.
This is a serious situation given the nature of the STEM subjects. And that Ireland aspires to be a ‘knowledge economy’ – that is, a society that lives by its ability to invent and innovate new products and processes. The importance of STEM subjects in innovation and growing knowledge is evident. And indeed the feedback from employers is that there are insufficient talented applicants for jobs in engineering, technology, science, and computer science.
So the issue of third level admissions to STEM subjects was, and is, rightly treated as an issue of national concern.
At the same time, the country was, and is, confronting another issue: the rise in the expense of studying at third level. It costs to educate someone to a university degree and beyond, and in an increasingly competitive and globalised world, costs just keep rising. Students and staff need expensively equipped laboratories and libraries; they need to enhance their knowledge by spending time studying abroad; they need access to the best research – research that is competitive at a global level.
In Ireland, most costs for undergraduate students are borne by the State. But students are asked to share some of these costs. For certain students, this can be prohibitive enough to put them off studying. No-one of potential should turn away from third level because of financial concerns: that makes no sense, either at the private level of the individual or at the public level of society and the economy, which needs bright, skilled workers.
Various solutions have been suggested, including favourable student loans. This issue is under continuing debate.
In the midst of such concerns, the Naughton family stepped in, bringing action. They knew from their business how crucial these issues are; they also knew that the proposed solutions would take time to have effect, and in the meantime, talented students were coming through secondary school every year.
The potential of school-leavers with talent and ambition, and with a desire to serve their country in exceptional ways, was not something they wanted to see go to waste. So they came up with a solution: they would provide scholarships for exceptional students to study science, engineering or technology at any Irish third-level institution of their choice.
This solution was strong, simple, and disinterested, in the sense that, by not tying the scholarships to a particular institution, the Naughtons declined to favour any particular region or university in this country. They put their faith in the students to make the case for the course of study of their choice.
We are delighted that you have chosen to come to Trinity. The Naughton scholarships were inaugurated in 2008. Two days ago, we welcomed, at a ceremony in the Science Gallery, our eight new fresher Naughton scholars. Also present today are the eighteen other Naughton undergraduate scholars, as well as three graduates, now pursuing PhDs and Masters. In total we have 29 Naughton scholars in Trinity this year. When you consider that this figure is replicated in universities round this country, you get an idea of the scale and the ambition of the Naughtons’ achievement.
We’re delighted to convene our Trinity cohort of Naughton Scholars here on this warm September afternoon. It’s great for us to meet all of you, and it’s just as important for you to meet each other. You are now part of a network and in future years, you may be able to help each other out, or collaborate on research or on start-up companies – how wonderful it will be then to know that you share this distinction.
Universities are valuable engines of growth – they train the skilled workers and educated citizens that contribute to the social and economic development of the country. Growth and competitiveness depend on excellence in teaching and research.
All of you here today have got the best possible start to university life: you have been singled out to receive these scholarships as reward for your excellence and ambition. There’s a responsibility that comes with that. “In dreams begin responsibilities”, as Yeats said. You will of course have a dream for your career and your life - whether it’s to work in industry, or in universities, or to stimulate social change. Having been given this start, it’s now your responsibility to hold on to that dream and pursue it tenaciously.
A French observer once observed of Charles Stewart Parnell – taking account of his transformation from withdrawn and indifferent speaker to dazzling public figure - “His victory in parliament was, first and above all, a victory over himself”.
A victory over oneself – over one’s weaknesses - is, I believe, one of the great aims of life and, to achieve such a victory, education is key.
A victory over oneself involves an ‘opening out’, which is, of course, the literal definition of ‘e-ducation’, from the Latin ‘to lead out’. Once people are opened out they are ready to use their skills and abilities, not only for their own good and advancement, but for society’s. Education is key to participatory citizenship in a parliamentary democracy.
Inevitably, like everyone, you will face challenges in your life and you may witness inequities. But I believe that the support you have been shown at this crucial stage in your life will help you to meet those challenges, and surmount those inequities. You are part of the great cohort of Naughton Scholars, which means you can have confidence that virtue and talent does get rewarded, that people do help those who help themselves, that dreams can come true.
And after what I hope will be long and successful careers, I can wish you nothing better than that you, like the Naughtons, can in your turn help others. Helping others can take many different forms, but to quote Robert Kennedy:
“But history will judge you, and as the years pass, you will ultimately judge yourself, on the extent to which you have used your gifts and talents to lighten and enrich the lives of your fellow men. In your hands lies the future of your world and the fulfillment of the best qualities of your own spirit.”
Thank you.
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