Speech by Prof. Eglė Lastauskienė, Chairperson of Vilnius University Senate, Marking the Start of the Academic Year

Your Magnificence Rector, esteemed members of the Council, beloved Senators, cherished colleagues, and dear students,

We begin another academic year—grown, matured, and enriched with new knowledge and experiences. Did you feel the miracle today? Do you see how many of us are here? Do you see how bright and beautiful we are? Do you see the great concentration of knowledge and competence gathered in this place? So many minds in one space. This is truly an inspiring and enlightening moment, being here together in the heart of Vilnius University. This miracle happens only once a year— only on the first of September.

Dear freshmen, you have entered the best university in Lithuania. Education is what brought you here, but the University is also the place where friendships are born, families are created, and lifelong connections are formed. So, take advantage of all the opportunities that Alma Mater offers you. From today onward, your path will be marked with the seal “approved by VU.” Along with this gift, you also take on the responsibility to cherish and honor Vilnius University.

Today, when both in Lithuania and across the world, common sense and fundamental values are often treated as unnecessary or inconvenient, it is only the walls of the University that shield us from ignorance and indifference. How wonderful it would be to remain here forever. Yet we cannot close ourselves off in a bubble. By receiving an education, we also take on the mission of enlightening our nation. So carry your knowledge, experiences, and the wisdom of Alma Mater into your families and communities.

And now, let us dive into the miracle: look around you—perhaps in this crowd stands a professor who will inspire you to great achievements, or a future best friend, or someone in whose arms you will feel the safest in the world, and on whose shoulder you will one day cry without fear. Perhaps here is your first love, or the person with whom you will build a family and, ten years from now, return together with your own children to the alumni festival.

So I wish you to find all of this here, at Vilnius University. Perhaps not all at once, but you have time for it.

With joy and pride, I say—welcome and welcome back to Vilnius University!