speeches by amb. coats

President Gaehtgens,

Professor Lenzen,

Distinguished Guests,

Forty years ago President Kennedy visited West Berlin. His dramatic words to the hundreds and thousands of Berliners at the Schoeneberger Rathaus have become a part of our shared history.

President Kennedy prophesied the day when Berlin -- East and West -- would be joined as one, a symbol no longer of division, but one of unity and of hope.

Later that same day, President Kennedy spoke to the students of the Free University. He spoke about the lessons of history and the challenges they present, and about the obligation of universities to turn out "citizens of the world" -- willing to "commit their energies to the advancement of a free society." This is true, of course, for every university but the special history of the Free University of Berlin makes it a symbol --then and now -- for academic freedom.

The American government, as well as private American citizens, businesses and institutions, supported the Free University from the very beginning. That support has continued over the years.

Stanford was the Free University's first partner university, the first of 108 such partnerships -- evidence that the Free University's international commitment is stronger than ever. That commitment stretches across the Atlantic and around the world.

On behalf of my country, I congratulate you Professor Gaehtgens for your accomplishments and commend you Professor Lenzen for taking on this responsibility.

In a city symbolic for both division and unity, the Free University has fulfilled the spirit of enlightened hope, the challenge to universities around the world that President Kennedy defined on that June day forty years ago.

Vielen Dank.