UCLA Medal Presentation to Juan Felipe Herrera

Speech

Good evening. It’s a great honor to introduce and present the UCLA Medal to a very distinguished alumnus, former United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera.

It’s not every day that you get to hear a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences discuss poetry, but tonight you’re in for a special treat. Because, as your chancellor, I am here to do just that.

Poetry, of course, is a universal language. Even for those of us in the hard sciences, poetry has a long history. In the 1700s, scientific articles were often written as poems, which they considered the language of intellect and the future.

Others in my field, neuroscience, found earlier this decade that test subjects had increased brain activity while reading Shakespeare and Wordsworth. Poetry brings light and enlightenment to the world, illuminating great beauty, but also great struggle. Poetry is a language that compels us to struggle a bit — to wrestle with its meaning, to linger and meditate over its sometimes abstract language, and to live more deeply in the world it creates.

Professor Juan Felipe Herrera’s poetry is a vital way of understanding the lives of so many Americans, particularly here in California, who sometimes live in different worlds than we do — even though we may live or work in the same towns, or on the same streets.

In his poem “Exiles,” he places us “at the greyhound bus stations, at airports, at silent wharfs” where “the bodies exit the crafts. Women, men, children; cast out from the new paradise.” “They are in exile,” he writes. “A slow scream across a yellow bridge… the jaws stretched, widening… the sea, black, swallowing all prayers, shadeless. Only tall faceless figures of pain flutter across the bridge. They pace in charred suits, the hands lift, point and ache and fly at sunset as cold dark birds.”

Juan Felipe Herrera is both an artist and an activist. His voice is unique, but also universal. We are very proud of the role UCLA played in helping Herrera develop that voice.

The son of migrant farmers, Herrera spent his youth living in tents and trailers across the San Joaquin Valley. In high school, he began writing poems and, in 1967, he became one of the first Chicanos to receive a UCLA scholarship through the Equal Opportunity Program.

On campus, he further developed as a poet, writing one of his early, celebrated poems, “Let Us Gather in a Flourishing Way,” in Campbell Hall. His creativity was fueled by the jazz and blues performances he saw on campus. He also found his voice as an activist here, while the civil rights movement was sweeping across the nation, and just as the Chicano Studies Research Center was being founded on campus.

As an Anthropology student, Herrera traveled to Mexico on a UCLA-funded project to learn more about the cultural and economic plight of people in the Chiapas region. It was a trip, Herrera said, that changed his life.

After graduating UCLA, Herrera earned master’s degrees from Stanford and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

An educator, Professor Herrera has served on the faculty at UC Riverside and Cal State Fresno, receiving numerous fellowships and honors including the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship in poetry.

In 2012, Gov. Brown named Herrera California’s Poet Laureate. And, in 2015, Professor Herrera became the first Latino ever to serve as Poet Laureate of the United States.

Given his incredible mentorship of so many young people, I am certain he will not be the last. In many ways, Herrera provides California’s voice to the rest of the nation — and the world.

“I bring the borderlands soul,” he once said. “I bring the bilingual, indigenous gospel and mural life from Southern California…I bring a multicultural scene of all colors.”

Professor Herrera has also used his poetry for social change and universal healing, always encouraging others to share their voices. In 2013, he started a campaign to end bullying. And, a year earlier, he invited Californians across the state to contribute to a giant poem on unity.

He has also used his poetry for healing. In the aftermath of the terrible shootings in San Bernardino, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and even here at UCLA, Herrera’s voice was there to help struggling communities through their grief.

Today we are proud to award Professor Herrera our highest honor, the UCLA Medal. I think it’s particularly fitting today that the medal includes the familiar words: “Let There Be Light.” Herrera’s poetry truly brings light into a sometimes dark world — enlightening us and inspiring us. The final poem in his collection, aptly titled, “Half of the World in Light,” speaks to the transformative powers of poetry: “Before you go further, let me tell you what a poem brings,” he writes. “First, you must know the secret, There is no poem to speak of, It is a way to attain a life without boundaries.”

Please join me in welcoming to the stage, Juan Felipe Herrera.

Before we present you with the Medal, I’d like to also like to share with everyone this citation, which reads:

JUAN FELIPE HERRERA:

You are an eloquent voice for those who struggle to speak for themselves. As Poet Laureate for both California and the United States, you have shown us that words have the power to cross borders of all kinds and unify communities. Your work has been a gift to the world, inspiring generations to give voice to their struggles and accomplishments. An educator, mentor, activist, and author, you have advanced the value of poetry as a beacon that illuminates humanity. For your tireless effort and exquisite artistry, we proudly bestow upon you the UCLA Medal.