Celebrating Convocation 2009
Members of the College community gather to launch the “new year” in a ceremony that blends the academic with the spiritual.
Greeted with messages of inspiration, purpose and opportunity, the Saint Joseph College student body congregated in The Connor Chapel of Our Lady on August 31 to celebrate Convocation 2009. The official ceremony that launches the academic year, Convocation brings the College-wide community together in an event that commemorates the intellectual and the spiritual aspects of a Saint Joseph College education.
“Its purpose is to ask the Lord to bless our learning,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean Billye Auclair, Ph.D. And so the students, faculty, staff, and administration did: Sohra Zahedi ’11 led the “New Student Pledge,” promising to embody the College’s commitment to learning “both in and out of the classroom.” Likewise, faculty and staff recited “A Blessing and Promise to Students,” pledging to “share our knowledge with enthusiasm, with gentleness, and patience.”
In her welcoming remarks, President Pamela Trotman Reid, Ph.D., urged students to participate fully in campus life as a training ground for civic involvement. “Your Saint Joseph College experience will help prepare you to think, to engage in civil debate, to research facts, and unpack controversies,” she said. “We expect that your faculty and your peers will model for you rationality, critical thinking, and justice in agreement and disagreement.”
Dr. Marylouise Welch, professor of Nursing and winner of the 2009 Reverend John J. Stack Teaching Excellence Award, delivered the Convocation Address. Speaking on the unpredictability of the immediate — as well as distant — future, she reminded students to pursue their passions along with intellectual and social independence. “Living life on your own terms is exhilarating and probably frightening,” she said. “Use the opportunity that college presents to explore new ideas, test limits, and take chances … If you take advantage of all we have to offer, you will flourish.”
Following the ceremony, the College community gathered for a picnic luncheon on the quad.
