 Chancellor Dixon, Provost Board, members of the Board of Trustees, platform guests, students, faculty, families, and friends of Elizabeth City State University. We welcome you to the 2020 Freshman Penning Ceremony. Pastor Halfacre will now deliver the invocation. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. We are thankful to be able to welcome our first year students into academic life here at the Elizabeth City State University. We are thankful that these young men and women are now a part of our bridge legacy. We are thankful for the opportunity to assist our students on this academic journey. We are thankful that they are part of continue to bless us, keep us, and be a part of the campus. In the name of Jesus, I pray, amen. Chancellor Dixon, member of the Board, faculty, staff, friends of the University, and our honorees, class of 2024, welcome to Elizabeth City State University's Fall Freshman Penning Ceremony. Today's ceremony is a notable for its sense of pride, anticipation, and joy as a new generation of students adds its story to the great traditions of Elizabeth City State University. The spirit that greets you here is the rich heritage of a glorious past which includes all those who have come before you for the purpose of seeking truth and intellectual freedom. It is such a great pleasure to welcome ECSU's future alumni I am excited that each of you has joined the Viking community. It is a privilege to be a part of this historic community. Responsible citizenship and the Viking community requires commitment. This includes a commitment to your academic pursuits, to your fellow students, your institution, and the surrounding community as a whole. Each of you will commit to being a part of the future of ECSU as you build on the legacy of those who have come before you. This is a new day for each of you and a new day for Elizabeth City State University and I look forward to seeing each of you as you make your mark on this great institution and we continue to move Viking. To now welcome Mr. Gary Brown, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, and Mr. Jimmy Chambers, Student Government Association President, who will extend a welcome. After their greetings, Dr. Rogers will lead you in the penning. Good afternoon and welcome to the 2020 Viking Penning Ceremony. To our Chancellor, Dr. Ixen, thank you for the support of the Division of Student Affairs. Without you we could not provide the level of care and service to our students. To our alumni, we thank you for all that you have done and continue to do in support of our newest Vikings in their educational pursuits and along into their future careers. You are the living example of those who came to discover and left to conquer the world and make tremendous contributions to society. Your continued commitment to Elizabeth City State University is without measure. To the faculty, staff, and guests, thank you for giving of your time and attention to our students. You are and continue to be an integral part of their academic journey and continued success. And to our students, the Class of 2024, thank you for choosing Elizabeth City State University. Thank you for answering the call for taking that remarkable step in believing in yourself. As I look out on all of you virtually, I can't help but get excited to see your faces. You're in so many ways a fulfillment of many prayers, hopes, and dreams. And I want you to think of ECSU as your new home as a place where you will receive so much over the next four years. That home, that age and home represents hope because here you'll be inspired to hope and challenged to turn your hopes into reality. That old is for opportunity. You'll be given a plethora of opportunities that can get you closer to your goals. And you'll be expected to take advantage of each of those opportunities. The end is for mentorship. You'll find lots of mentors here to guide you through this phase of your academic journey. And eventually, you'll become a mentor to someone yourself. And the E is for experience and exposure. You'll be exposed to accomplished and inspiring men and women at ECSU and you'll live here full of wonderful experiences that will prepare you for the next step. As you look around the campus, everywhere you go is actually hollowed ground. It's a place where women and men have made sacrifices for you. It's a place where lasting friendships have been made and business ventures have begun and a place that challenged men and women to follow their destiny. Today, you'll receive your first ECSU pin and it symbolizes the great history and tradition of Elizabeth City State University as well as the journey towards your academic degree. I'm humbled and proud to welcome you to the Viking family. When you receive your pin today, I only ask that you use it as your pass to embark on a tremendous journey to great places that you've read and sail to places beyond your imagination. Welcome home to the class of 2024. I am Jimmy Chambers, your student government association president for this academic year. Over the next four years, you will have many opportunities to create lifetime memories and friendships that will stand the test of time. I want to challenge you to step outside of your comfort zone and run for your class council, join Royal Court, join CAB, or even join the SGA Executive Cabinet. I want you to create the most grandest and highest vision for your life because whatever you dream is what you become. So once again, welcome to Elizabeth City State University. Good afternoon. We will now prepare for the highlight of the freshman pinning ceremony. Congratulations to each of you on being selected to join the Viking community in pursuit of your baccalaureate degree. Elizabeth City State University has a rich legacy of preparing students to become productive members of a global society. Now more than ever, we need your leadership and you are certainly on your way to making this happen. Today, we will present you with the class of 2024 pin. We commit to partner with you to chart your course to destination graduation. If you take and pass at least 15 semester hours of the right courses, each semester you will be on course to graduate in four years. After you are pinned, wear your pin with pride. May it be a constant reminder that your goal is to graduate from ECSU in 2024. Please know that you have the support of ECSU alumni, administrators, faculty, staff, and student leaders throughout your journey here at ECSU. I ask that you now stand with your class pins in hand and secure the pin on your right shirt collar and I will pause here for a moment to give you time to pin yourselves. Thank you. Viking pride. Congratulations to the class of 2024. May your pin serve as a constant reminder of your journey towards attaining your baccalaureate degree from ECSU within four years or less. Wear your pins with Viking pride. At this time, Mr. Clarence Goss, board member for the ECSU National Alumni Association, will induct the class of 2024 into the pre-alumni club. Following the induction, Chancellor Dixon will administer the charge to the class of 2024. Greetings Chancellor Dixon, Provost Ward, other platform guests, faculty, staff, alumni, family, and friends, and of course the class of 2024. I am Clarence Goss Jr., class of 1997, life member of the ECSU National Alumni Association, where I serve in the Board of Directors and I bring your greetings on behalf of the National Alumni President, Mr. Abdul Rashid and the Board of Directors Chairman, Mr. James Cherry and the thousands upon thousands of alumni around the world. Class of 2024, we are proudly and would like to say to each of you, welcome home. I stand to recognize you all as pre-alumni. Pre-alumni are today's student leaders preparing to be tomorrow's alumni leaders. The National Alumni and the University hope that you will pick up the torch and continue to support and keep the mighty Viking ship sailing into the light of a new day. So if you will please stand and repeat after me, the pre-alumni pledge to action. We the members of the Elizabeth City State University pre-alumni come together to build a better ECSU. Soon to be the future, they symbolize the past. Elizabeth City State University. To shine as a ray of hope, we support ECSU and forever may it stand. ECSU legacy from excellence, one ECSU. Viking pride, Vice Chancellor Brown, members of the Board of Trustees, participants, our world class for your presence here today. To the class of 2024, welcome to the lovely halls of Elizabeth City State University. You have made the journey arch into this university of great opportunity. You have come to discover and you will leave to conquer. Your joining is bright for ECSU. Build the region, state, nation, each day to explore your potential and to ensure you graduate in four years. Approach each assignments your final grade. Engage to have a well-read choose your four years freshman pinning ceremony. Thank you.