 Good afternoon and welcome to Convocation. Please stand as we welcome our student a cappella group drastic measures to sing the national anthem. Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light What's so proud gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the pale... Thank you. The university has several religious organizations for students who work collaboratively with local clergy and our spiritual life office to coordinate spiritual programs on campus. Today the university's multi-faith chaplain and director of spiritual life the Reverend Nancy Sukup will offer invocation. Reverend Nancy. Please join me in a moment of silence in the spirit of the Quaker tradition. Spirit of wisdom. Spirit of truth as we gather to welcome our university's entering class. Draw us near to our namesake the Reverend Roger Williams a man who sought refuge from Massachusetts 383 years ago because he dared to preach new and dangerous ideas. Teach us again about Williams's lively experiment in Rhode Island to promote religious tolerance freedom of speech and respect for all. In still in this class the same eagerness for truth seeking and truth speaking that ignited Williams's own intellect and beliefs. Enable these students to move from scratching the surface of learning to diving deeply into theories postulations ideas and norms embolden them to ask why when others merely accept what is. Grant them joy and achievement courage in the face of disappointment fearlessness on unknown paths and boldness in friendships by opening their hearts to those not exactly like themselves remind each student here that they are not alone on this journey they are encircled by family and friends who support and encourage them ease their concerns and say yes to their dreams. Spirit grant our rising sophomores juniors seniors as well as faculty staff administrators and board members renewed purpose for this next year and most important shower blessings upon our new president Janus Meadows as he takes on the mantle of leading Roger Williams. Finally he make us aware each day that the ground of which we stand is the Poconac at Wampanoag sacred land for generations tribal members lived here and plied these waters with each step we take may we always honor them. Now bless these students bless this university with all that comes from truth and wisdom this day and forever more so be it. Thank you Reverend Suka. Greetings and welcome to members of the board of trustees president mellis the Fulton family faculty university administrators staff marshals orientation advisors and student volunteers parents family members and especially all of the first year and transfer students comprising the entering class as vice provost for academic affairs I thank you for participating in convocation exercises today and for celebrating this important milestone together for both family members and students today is a powerful and as a day of powerful and competing emotions the energy created by pride happiness and excitement conflicting with anxiety about the transition to the university life making new friends taking on new academic challenges and saying goodbye temporarily to loved ones joining you today are the dedicated faculty staff and student leaders who are committed to mentoring you along the way don't hesitate to reach out ask questions seek guidance make suggestions they're here for you students may be asking what is so special about this ceremony and perhaps how long will it last some family members may want a longer ceremony and a longer goodbye history informs us that the term convocation dates back to the 14th century was originally used to describe important religious gatherings and then adopted by universities to celebrate academic ceremonies such as the beginning of the academic school year at roger williams convocation begins with a procession of the entering class wearing hawken blaze and shirts in unity and continues with messages from university community members formally welcoming the entering class to our learning community importantly convocation includes the new class reciting the pledge of academic integrity together your first week is upon us your transition to rw u will continue with several important programs including fall orientation this weekend on monday all of you will join faculty staff and peer leaders for the 15th annual feinstein community connections program named in honor of alan shawn feinstein one of rodalin's leading philanthropists who has dedicated his life to promoting public service you will experience your first day of classes on wednesday and by the end of the week you will have a deeper sense of why you are here what faculty expect who is here to help you and why every rw student matters learning is central to what we do as a university and while we learn together new and returning students faculty and staff we're also in the process of building community and caring about one another this is hard work that requires patience humility and honesty being a community member requires intentional investment in action true community members don't stand by while peers struggle with any of life's challenges losses or injustices they reach out offering empathy intervention and support the call to community requires all of us to listen and understand each other to welcome and value all expressions of diversity and identity and to respect and value the dignity of each individual in order to help others you have to take care of yourself and your responsibilities eat and sleep well exercise dance sing keep up with your coursework go to class every class go for tutoring get involved write a poem laugh cry talk when you're sick visit health services recognize when you're struggling and share your feelings with friends faculty staff family and peer peer supports make an appointment with our campus experts in the counseling center and the center for academic success remember the habits you practice during college can provide a lifetime of benefit for your physical mental intellectual and emotional wellness it's a pleasure to welcome each of you and your family members to the rw community it's now my pleasure to welcome Dean Dean Amy Tiberio associate vice president of enrollment management and marketing to the podium for the presentation of the entering class good afternoon my role today is to officially introduce the entering class of 2023 and all our new transfer students to the greater campus community as you begin your Roger Williams academic career we are so excited for you and honored that you have chosen Roger Williams as your home among many other institutions individually you have all taken very distinct pathways to join us and it is so exciting to see you all sitting together today for the first time as one full class of new students allow me to share some fun facts about you and your new classmates you come to us from 567 different public and private high schools you hail from 23 states in eight different countries 83 percent of you are out of state students with 18 percent and rolling students of color our overall student body will be the most diverse that we've ever had at Roger Williams your involvements and hobbies are also diverse you are athletes activists volunteers musicians dancers actors poets and so much more and you are one of the most academically talented classes we have ever had I can only touch on the talents and experiences that you're bringing us please know individually each of you will make us a better institution and collectively you are an amazing class we cannot wait to see how you will challenge us and help us grow most importantly please know that you are here because we believe in you and we know you can succeed that is the common goal and belief that unites everyone present today it is now my privilege to hand off this incredible class to our president Dr. Mayulis I am pleased to present you the first year and transfer students representing the class of 2023 it's an honor to recognize our board vice chair Marsha Morris trustee Morris co-chair the search committee that brought us our 11th president Yanis Mialis Marsha has served on the board of trustees since 2009 as vice chair since 2016 as chair of the recruitment retention and student life committee since 2010 and as chair of the fund for civic scholars since 2016 in fact just three months ago she stood on this stage at commencement to receive a richly deserved honorary degree from Roger Williams we are grateful for her magnificent leadership as well as the steady hand and wise counsel she provided the university as she and other trustees helped to steer us through a time of transition over the past year we thank you Marsha and I'd like to invite you to the podium to introduce president Mialis good afternoon and welcome to all of you a visionary leader in experiential learning and champion of STEM education Yanis Mialis formally assumed leadership as the 11th president of Roger Williams University just this past Monday Dr. Mialis most recently served as president and director of the Boston Museum of Science where he introduced more than a million and a half visitors a year to science technology engineering and mathematics he led the development of the museum's national center for technological literacy advancing the knowledge of engineering and technology in k through 12 curricula programs that have reached an estimated 200 000 teachers and 18 million students Dr. Mialis began his distinguished career in higher education at his undergraduate alma mater Tufts University where he served as dean of the college of engineering as associate provost as interim dean of the graduate school of arts and scientists sciences I'm sorry and as a professor of mechanical engineering during his leadership at the college of engineering he helped raise 100 million dollars for the engineering school and worked closely with students and faculty to more than double its research initiatives introduced new programs form professional partnerships with industry and significantly increased the number of female students and faculty members in 2001 he spearheaded an initiative to make massachusetts the first state in the nation to bring engineering and technology curricula into its k through 12 public school system Dr. Mialis holds a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering a master of arts in economics a bachelor of science in engineering all from Tufts University as well as a master of science in mechanical engineering from the massachusetts institute of massachusetts institute of technology he's published numerous research papers several textbooks and holds two engineering patents that's a pretty deep science background but importantly and this was a key to the search committee yannis is a big believer in the importance of critical thinking and the role of the liberal arts in educating all students he's a transformative leader with an innate understanding of how to make educational endeavors relevant and fun as one of the presidential search co-chairs it is an honor for me to introduce and welcome to the podium our new president Yannis Mialis good afternoon i'm very excited to officially welcome you to roger williams and as you can imagine we have a lot of in common you are a first year students and i'm a first year president actually i have been on the job for six days now so if you feel like kind of embarrassed you don't know where the dining dining room is or this building that building i don't know either so i'm figuring it all out and so we all shared excitement over the summer orientations anxiety questions need for directions and now i'm honored to also be a member of your entering class and we are all now hawks so let me tell you a little bit about my higher education journey as a student don't be confused by my rhodialan accent i actually came from greece to study engineering in 1980 i went to tufts and i saw a lot of big cars pulling up to offload all your stuff i came with two suitcases from greece and my parents had never been in the u.s in the u.s my mom dropped me off at the airport in Athens she was crying her eyes out as you can imagine because i was leaving her by the way i was replaced by 19 cats eventually but um so i came with two suitcases my dad who had no idea what american colleges are like actually i'm the first one to attend the four year college in my family uh he brought me to his tailor to make sure i have the right suit to attend classes so here is first day of classes and my roommate was american and i was living in a sweet kind of environment in the dormitory i put on my suit i get out of the room all my classmates were looking at me the jaw drops said where the heck do you think you're going you have an interview already you haven't even started class so i said but i'm going to class and of course all day left so i immediately went back and put my jeans on and and i never wore that suit ever again that that was a boring moment so i spent a lot of my life in a higher education at tufts university and my favorite part and the one part i really missed when azote museum is working with students i have a had a very large group of undergraduate research students and most of the research papers i have published were co-authored by undergraduate students i believe that working with undergraduates at all levels teaching them learning from them doing research of them is the most rewarding part of a faculty member and the advantage you all have here is since we have very few graduate programs you'll get a lot more attention here from our fabulous faculty than than other students other classmates of yosem high school will get that attended research focused universities we have fabulous faculty here and fabulous staff so let me share with you what i found so special with roger williams to decide to come here this year aside of being a beautiful beautiful campus by the way in the winter things get a little bit different some days you'll walk out of your dorm and you have to double check and you did wear indeed your pants because you'll feel like you didn't it was so cold so what attracted me here combination of liberal arts and professional studies as marsha mentioned to you i'm a strong believer that a good education or around it educations should have a component strong component of the liberal arts no matter if you're a business student engineer liberal arts student or architect great opportunity here to major and minor or double major a lot of our students graduate with minors double majors in in areas that nobody would imagine they would go together make it possible for our students to become civic scholars fabulous programs to get involved with a community community engagement emphasis on experiential learning and community partnerships students collaborating in teams to solve real program problems in local communities this university is uniquely positioned to be the university the world needs now and our graduates will strengthen society we need inclusive minded future leaders skilled in working across differences in backgrounds perspectives cultures and values at roger williams there is a real commitment and action in support of diversity knowledge forums to training and education and for open and transparent leadership everyone here is welcome regardless the religion ethnicity race sexual orientation and gender identity and i expect all of you to be respectful of differences and celebrate diversity in my interviews and my undercover and i'll give you this story so when i was interviewed here i i did the three undercover visits pretending that my kid wants to go to roger williams well what i'm going to tell them i think i'll be president here and please show me around so so actually some of you might have been in the same tours i attended in late december and early january and one of the things i did is i made a point to go to the dining hall and meet students and so i sat down with students again pretending i was a prospective parent it's amazing every single student i sat next to and chatted love this place they love the place they love the students they love the faculty they love the staff they just loved it and i think you're going to love it also now some advice for the freshman class first be organized and plan ahead so when i was an undergraduate every sunday morning i would wake up go for brunch and then i had one of these big calendars like dentists have that have the day and and little timelines and i had one of those and i would plan my whole week so i would say because as you know this is not like high school you come at eight o'clock and you leave at two in their class after class you're going to have gaps between classes we have evening labs if you're in the sciences and and if you plan your time you don't have to ever pull an all nighter i never pulled an all nighter when i was a in undergraduate simply because i planned my week i was free every friday and saturday night to go out and have fun and i usually did not study one of the weekend days simply because i planned ahead so i recommend to you to get one of these calendars and plan your week every sunday i think you're going to have a lot more fun and do a lot better if you're organized second take advantage of the fantastic educational opportunities learn a second language if you already started the language finish it up here it's very important to graduate speaking another language if you want to be a citizen of the future study abroad we have fabulous study abroad programs go and meet people from another culture get immersed learn the language better become a civic scholar this is one of our signature programs here you learn more about it i strongly encourage you to become a civic scholar get to know your faculty we have fabulous fabulous dedicated faculty engage in undergraduate research and exploring the disciplinary areas and last bit life long friendships your life long partner may be sitting next to you or in front of your behind you right now your best friends for life that you haven't met yet may be sitting next to you in front of your behind you meet students from different states countries races and learn from them and their experiences and now something for the parents i know how hard it is to live your son or daughter here and drive away i did it twice both of my girls went to tufts a university that i knew very well i met their mother there i thought 16 years there but when i dropped them i went to the bathroom and almost fainted so my one piece of advice is let them go let them go we will take good care of them this is probably the best university to drop a son or daughter off and feel sure that you'll be taken care of trust them and trust us to help guide them into the journey my partner heidi and i will be very visible and active in campus life and i want each family member of our students to feel that they are a member of the roger williams family as well we're all in for a new and exciting beginning this is a happy day that you'll never forget good luck to all of you and you're now officially members of the class of 2023 thank you president mellis dr. dave moskowitz is an associate professor of political science and is beginning his 20th year of teaching at rw u his classroom lectures and discussions with students are highly engaging and his research centers on identity and intersectionality as it affects political attitudes please join me in welcoming faculty senate president moskowitz to the podium for the faculty address greetings entering class my faculty to our right or my right your left um and good afternoon the president of faculty speaks of convocation representing the faculty to the incoming class it's a chance to for the faculty to welcome new students and offer some words of advice to help you on your first year roger williams university therefore this afternoon you get me yeah thanks a lot first some bad news the bad news is that none of you are taking a class with me this fall i can say with certainty that the only person here today student body president chris costa can tell you what you're missing poor chris now for the good news i will use the time we would have been in class together roughly 45 hours to discuss what awaits you in your first year here in addition i would not be a political scientist if i did not add and now by unanimous consent i wish to revise and extend my remarks by the way offering advice to incoming students is no small task what do i tell incoming students where no two individuals share the same knowledge and experiences that brought them together today where no two students will walk away with the same meaning from what i say is there a one size that fits all way of telling you what lies ahead that will have that will be meaningful to you when you leave what can i add to the endless streams of advice that you have received thus far what would i have wanted to know sitting where you are now so many years ago what will students think in subsequent if subsequent research this proves my advice like when you listen to npr on your morning commute and a new study dispels accepted wisdom on how you should plan your life given all of that i have reduced a long list of advice to three things first stay engaged by this i mean keep your mind engaged in what you are doing this is especially true when you are in class it never fails that the student who zones off in class is the first one called upon by the professor sitting to your left staying engaged also applies outside of class keep up with what is going on locally nationally and internationally second the faculty are the greatest resource you have not only for the knowledge but also as your academic advisor seek them out ask questions you will find that if they do not know the answer as rare as that might be they will know someone who does whom else would you go to with questions about a class assignment but the person who wrote the assignment third learn from each other all here are uniquely skilled in different things and in different ways learn from each other as you share traditions foods cultures and perspectives learn from each other what study habits work and what does not work you know the student down a hall who is good at mathematics but more uncertain about history while you are good at history but are not quite getting mathematics guess what you have found a natural study partner finally i want to circle back to something i mentioned before while giving you a homework assignment if you will a bit of advice freely offered think big you hear it all the time go bigger go home as a variation on that advice well that got me thinking i want you to google someone for me tonight now john king has asked that i add the word tonight in there so we all don't take out our phones and google it now which begs the question how are you going to remember this name i want you to google somebody tonight and please know sharing what you find or giving the information away the person you google can probably touch each and every one of the disciplines of study here at roger Williams university moreover for the parents and older adults here today those who have made a positive impact on the lives of our entering class you too know this person or shall i say their creations especially when you come upon one of their creations late at night after you stepped on one is everybody ready for the person's name google olay kirk christensen everybody got it olay kirk christians look at us they're googling already now the next time you hear think big think about olay for me thank you thank you for professor moskowitz it's my pleasure to introduce our student senate president christopher costa to give the student senate welcome christ is a senior from port smith road island studying economics please join me and welcoming christ to the podium thank you good afternoon everyone it is my privilege to be the first student to welcome all of the new and transfer students in the entering class and their families to roger on behalf of the student senate my name is christopher costa and i have the great honor of serving as your student body president for this academic year in preparing for the speech i tried to think back and recall how exactly i was feeling during my convocation as i was sitting in the chairs that you are right now one of the first things that came to my mind was why am i wearing this black robe in 85 degree heat and that's because for my entering class our convocation we had to wear robes like you would wear at graduation and then they changed that and so all of you are here in t-shirts and shorts so that's great but in all seriousness i was a little apprehensive about my first days here at roger i was nervous worried and even a little scared just like some of you may be right now i wasn't sure if i would like my school my major if i would make a lot of friends and i had no idea what i was going to do outside of classes but luckily i chose to go to roger williams and looking back on that decision three years later i know it was a great one please know that if you're feeling any of those emotions right now you're not alone the good news is that you've chosen a university where you can truly be yourself and be confident that you will find a place to fit in and feel at home no matter how far from home you may be if your high schools were anything like mine then you may remember all of the pressures that went along with going to them pressures that might have stopped you from pursuing your interests or even pressures that didn't allow you to completely be yourself now that you're in college you have a completely clean slate and roger is a place where you have so many options and opportunities to explore and truly find your passions interests and be the person that you really want to be are you passionate about advocacy and helping people we have so many organizations that focus just on that once that focus on sustainability social justice public health feeding those who are hungry and building homes for those that really need them our sports more up your alley there are dozens of intramural sports to play here from soccer to club hockey or even just renting some kayaks with friends and going out on the water my freshman year i wanted to play soccer but my friend group wasn't exactly interested in that and so i joined the intramural league as a free agent the only problem was the team that i joined was all seniors and here i was as a freshman joining their squad normally i would be so scared to do something like that but those seniors just so like just like so many people here at roger were so nice so kind and so welcoming and joining that team led me to have so many fun experiences that i will remember for the rest of my life maybe sports aren't your thing and you like music or the arts we have dance clubs and teams acapella groups open mic nights an instrument jam room and a standing room only poetry slams and so many other amazing groups or maybe you want to make connections with people of similar communities and identities whether you remember of the queer community like i am come from a different country or are passionate about your political beliefs no matter what your background nationality interests or values there are people places and communities on this campus that share them and you can be confident that you're in a place that's not only safe to be yourself but it's encouraged college can be one of the best experiences we have in our lives but those valuable experiences aren't just going to fall on your lap you need to work for them and put yourself out there so i want to challenge all of you to take a step out of your comfort zones and pursue your interest join a club you think you might like run for positions on student senate or be a class officer get in on an intramural team or even do something as simple as taking that drama or that music class that you've always been interested in every student in college is starting their adult life preparing for their career and further exploring who they're going to be at roger you have an amazing opportunity to be who you want to be and pursue your goals and aspirations be brave be bold and be you in the words of motivational speaker joe duncan if you're going to quit anything quit being lazy quit making excuses and quit waiting for the right time entering class this is the right time so go out there and have an amazing college experience here at roger thank you chris thank you for those wonderful words of advice and welcome trish scott joined the parent and family leadership council at rw u in the spring of 2018 trish and her husband wendell are from new jersey and are the parents of two sons including greg who lives in portland main and colman and rw u junior whose studies are focused on communications and marketing a graduate of tufts university with a double major in history and french trish also earned an mba at stern business stern school of business at new york university and began her professional career in finance at ibm and jp morgan chase she currently works at msm financial strategies an investment advisory firm that trish founded with two partners the scott family also includes two huge bernie's mountain dogs including cinnamon a certified pet therapy dog who teams with trish serving a local elementary school in a reading to the dogs program which supports children working to overcome reading challenges please welcome trish to the podium for the family address good afternoon and congratulations to all the new students and family members as you join the roger williams community community it is a distinct honor for me to speak with you today as you embark on this new and meaningful journey it was just two years ago that i sat with my son and my family in the seats that you are in now move in day flew by we were all so excited for colman as he was embarking on this new and distinctly more independent path after months and months of seemingly endless effort to be accepted at college when the moment came to bring him to campus and then to say goodbye it seemed slightly shocking wow the long awaited very new reality was upon us being on campus set my mind racing with questions of what the very first days would hold colman also had questions i knew certainly they were different than mine remarkably it feels like truly it feels like we have fast forwarded to today two years later perhaps i can address one or two questions that you may be mulling over by providing a glimpse of what the scott family has learned about life at roger williams so i'll start at the beginning actually the very beginning colman was born in 1997 at a hospital in new jersey okay i'm glad you're laughing i'm just kidding we're stepping up colman is a freshman in 2017 a big topic for me as the day two days to come on campus we're approaching was keeping the communication going in our family i was wondering was this a concern for colman i wasn't sure in fact a few days before we headed off to bristol i will admit i panicked considering that my calls offering tender words of motherly advice could be forwarded to voicemail this was a distressing concern for me so a day later rather spontaneously i told colman that i wanted to speak with him by phone at least 15 minutes per week to hear the latest highlights and possible lowlights in real time okay mom is what i heard that actually was great for a moment the queasy feeling that i had did not go away i felt our conversation needed to be more genuine so i shared with colman that for 18 years i had become very accustomed to looking out for him and offering a few maybe more words of advice certainly i trusted him to set off from our family but i wanted to still feel that we were connected in a meaningful way as the conversation unfolded we both recognized that we were simply making an agreement on how to stay in touch and be respectful of each other's needs was this new actually no but the circumstances were new and in these few moments we found the time to be sure we understood each other wendell and i were wanting to share a part of the college journey while remaining on the home front colman assured me that he would regularly engage with us and keep us up to date on his news as the saying goes this isn't rocket science but it did establish a shared agreement and we have found that regular communication by phone by text and by shared photos keeps us connected so for parents and students alike i share with you that a little heart to heart chat at the start of the year followed by many chats or texts during the year makes for a happy journey for those who are on campus and family members who remain at home or elsewhere another aspect of freshman year that captured my attention was how any bumps in the road would be smoothed out we all knew there would be challenges but what they would be and how they would be resolved we didn't know in the time that has elapsed i have observed that colman has had the opportunity to collaborate with many varied resources on campus in ramping up as a new student not just professors but administrators and peers have offered guidance as well as encouragement freshman year had some great successes naturally and also some weaker moments it was striking to me and i mean this most sincerely that in all situations colman has been consistently recognized and respected as an individual who has talent and motivation and ability to move forward even when times are tough the strong element of collaboration on this campus reflects a network that is both supportive and realistically in tune with the ups and downs of daily campus life challenges have been broken down into reasonable steps that create a path forward this committed partnership i find is a resource of tremendous value to both parents and students alike and it provides a solid foundation to move forward and be successful as a final brief comment i would like to share that attending family weekend and homecoming was an event that the scott family particularly looked forward to in the early weeks of freshman year naturally we wanted to see colman fully immersed in campus life in attending the event however we quickly realized that engaging with other students and families offered a wealth of perspective on the multiple aspects of life on this campus we arrived with a limited view that aligned with colman's interests however as that day unfolded and we interacted with others our insight to the campus life greatly expanded this is a vibrant community with a diversity of individuals who are passionate about their myriad pursuits there is much to be learned here by students and families alike do plan to be on campus for family weekend and homecoming it is a must attend event in closing our family can confirm that the college experience flies by very quickly enjoy every moment that you are here i wish each and every student and family member listening or watching a wonderful year thank you thank you trish it's now time to formally welcome the entering class to the university i invite dr susan mcternan dean of the mario j gabelli school of business to the podium to lead the class and the pledge of academic integrity good afternoon to you all i'm so pleased to now have the privilege of administering the pledge of integrity to you our exceptional incoming class this pledge embodies a set of ideals that link this institution to those that have come before it all the way back to the colloquia of socrates something that you will study in the coming months by embracing this pledge you commit to pursuing academic achievement of the highest standards its goal is that we are collegial in the best sense of the word a community of scholars working within an atmosphere of honesty and integrity the faculty of roger williams university considers the honor pledge to be the foundation of trust that makes our community of learning possible when you take this pledge you will be welcomed into this academic community but you must be aware that a violation of the pledge will bring consequences when you accept this code you pledge yourself to personal integrity you pledge to take responsibility for your actions and decisions and that you are interested in acquiring knowledge on your own for its own sake rather than as simply a display of achievement to impress others for competitive advantage finally you pledge to form a bond with your professors and your fellow students that is based on trust and a common pursuit of knowledge will all of our new students please stand as you are able please open your program to the pledge of academic integrity I ask also that the faculty and the officers of the university now stand to witness this pledge I ask that each member of the incoming class concentrate fully on these words as you promise to adopt and practice the following code of conduct please repeat after me we the undergraduate students of roger williams university commit ourselves to academic integrity we promise to pursue the highest ideals of academic life to challenge ourselves with the most rigorous standards to be honest in every academic endeavor to conduct ourselves responsibly and honorably and to assist one another as we live and work together in mutual support thank you we extend the warmest welcome to you all to our academic community and extend our very best wishes as you begin your first semester with us thank you dean mcternan as we near the end of our ceremony i would like to invite dr lisa landerman assistant vice president and dean of student life for the closing remarks please join me in welcoming dr landerman to the podium so it may on this same field we graduated a really impressive class the students were engaged in amazing endeavors research projects community service partnerships internships social change efforts student organization leadership athletic competitions dance and music performances study abroad tutoring advising mentoring and assisting peers all while fulfilling their academic goals yet when many of these recent graduates started their time at rw u they didn't feel certain about what they wanted to accomplish some didn't know exactly what they wanted to study and most couldn't anticipate how their lives would be transformed by their rw u experience and it wasn't always easy some struggled some felt discouraged some changed course but most if not all received assistance and support from members of our community that includes faculty staff students and even alumni sometimes these are the stories that we forget to tell when we are sharing pride for our students and all they're accomplished and all that we have to offer here so let me just say that wherever you are now whatever you're feeling is okay it may take some time to find your way to figure out what you want from this time and what you will need to be well to feel connected and to accomplish your goals know that we are all here to support you as you've heard throughout the speeches today we're here to help you navigate your college experience as you determine what your legacy will be be open to the ride this is your time this is your university and we are excited to become trusted guides for your rw u journey so here's what happens next following convocation commuters are asked to attend a meeting in the college of arts and science building we call that CAS room 157 at about 3 30 and we'll have a meeting that will help you prepare for this transition to the academic year and talk through fall orientation residential students will begin dinner that will start between 4 30 and 6 30 and then you'll have a community meeting from 7 to 8 please check the guidebook app for the specific details of your assigned dinner times you're a large class so we've got to rotate you in and the location of your community meetings at 8 o'clock pm all students are encouraged to attend the pizza and music welcome at the cedar hall basketball court sponsored by the campus entertainment network we call them c en and the w q r i 88.3 f m station now here's the difficult part for family members this is time for you to say goodbye so what we'd like you to do is find a place to meet your students and we ask that around by 3 30 you you are on your way to leaving campus i won't go as far as calling it a curfew but it is so if you everyone would please rise and remain standing at your seats as we prepare the recessional the platform party will leave first followed by the faculty marshals will guide the class out and family members can meet students in front of the field house of the common quad thank you and have a great rest of your day