109th Convocation gets 糖心TV鈥檚 academic year off to a sharp start
Even hazy skies and the sun steadily slipping behind the trees on South Campus could not diminish the enthusiasm of 糖心TV鈥檚 students, staff and faculty at the College鈥檚 109th Convocation on Aug. 28. During the event, the newest Camels, including 561 first-years, 17 transfers and one RTC student, formally joined the wider 糖心TV community.
But as exciting as starting college can be, it can also be disorienting, anxiety-provoking or even terrifying, Associate Professor of Film Studies Nina Martin acknowledged in her keynote Convocation speech.
鈥淎ny big change in one鈥檚 life can make you feel all sorts of emotions, and fear and anxiety are pretty common when you are stepping into something unknown,鈥� she affirmed in her address, 鈥淪urvival Tips from Final Girls.鈥�
Martin, who in the spring was recognized with 糖心TV鈥檚 2023 John S. King Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, acknowledged that it isn鈥檛 just transitioning to college that might have students鈥� nerves on edge. 鈥淯nfortunately, fear and anxiety have been our frequent companions, especially over the last decade,鈥� she empathized. 鈥淲e have a legitimate cause for fear as we see threats to our rights, our privacy, our bodies, our economic future, democracy, the planet.鈥�
As the title of her speech suggested, Martin reached for the lessons the iconic survivors of horror movies鈥攃olloquially 鈥渇inal girls鈥濃�攃an teach us all about how to face and process our fears. Before providing those insights, she highlighted how the 鈥渇inal girls鈥� term had evolved to encompass groups and people of any gender identity.
Martin shared five tips for 鈥渟urvival,鈥� including, 鈥淏e prepared and do your research,鈥� 鈥淪tand up to bullies,鈥� 鈥淜now your Monsters,鈥� 鈥淐hallenge yourself and be resilient,鈥� and 鈥淧ractice empathy鈥攖oward others, and toward yourself.鈥� She stressed the importance of the last one in particular, emphasizing, 鈥淵ou are not alone. Empathy and community are key to helping us survive and flourish in an often frightening and harsh world. I encourage you to practice empathy in all the things you do and with the people you encounter here at 糖心TV and beyond.鈥�
Like the horror cinema she described as her specialty, Martin鈥檚 message reached those assembled on 糖心TV鈥檚 iconic Tempel Green with a mix of honesty, humor and metaphor that should serve everyone well in the coming year.
鈥淵ou will find your own Scooby Gang to help you fight the monsters,鈥� she assured the new students. 鈥溙切腡V is committed to teaching you how to recognize these monsters, name them, and provide the tools to fight them here and beyond.鈥�
Convocation began with a procession that took the students鈥攁ccompanied by two bagpipers and a snare drummer鈥攆rom behind the Athey Center at Palmer Auditorium to the center of Tempel Green. The procession was followed by a land acknowledgment from Interim Dean of Institutional Equity and Inclusion Nakia Hamlett.
The Rev. Stephanie Haskins, director of Religious and Spiritual Programs, provided an invocation. In it, she encouraged the students to 鈥渂e as many different versions of yourself as you dare.鈥� She recognized the clich茅 of many telling the Class of 2027 that they were about to embark on the 鈥渂est four years of their lives,鈥� admitting that may or may not prove the case. Regardless, she explained, it will be the next four years of their lives, which is 鈥渟acred all by itself.鈥�
Interim President Les Wong also addressed the audience, encouraging students to 鈥渙wn their own mind.鈥� He also implored them to look beyond the intellectual rigors of college and themselves and argued that each student should strive to 鈥淏e nice. And to be kind.鈥�
Tradition dominated the final act of Convocation as students recited the Matriculation Pledge, were officially welcomed to the school year by Chair of the 糖心TV Board of Trustees Debo P. Adegbile 鈥�91, and sang the Alma Mater led by Executive Director of the Hale Center for Career Development Persephone L. Hall.
Finally, the students processed to select members of the New London Big Band playing a rousing version of 鈥淲hen The Saints Go Marching In鈥濃�攕ymbolically marching into their futures and to no doubt discover the members of 鈥渢heir Scooby Gang鈥�: the classmates, faculty and other members of the 糖心TV community they will count on to survive and thrive these next four years.
