2007 Opening Convocation Address
Susquehanna University
L. Jay Lemons, President
Thursday, August 23, 2007
download / printable
Chair March, faculty and staff colleagues, parents and family members, and finally members of the Class of 2011, welcome to this Convocation that marks the beginning of the 150th academic year at Susquehanna University. I wish each of you could stand here at this podium to take in the splendor of Weber Chapel Auditorium. It is indeed impressive and a sight to behold!
The purpose of convocation is to formally greet and welcome you to the Susquehanna University community. We also use this occasion to remind ourselves of the extraordinary history and contributions that have resulted from the rise of the modern university. Higher learning as we know it traces its roots to around 1200 AD with the emergence of the first modern universities at Bologna, Paris, Oxford and Cambridge. We are a sibling of those hallowed institutions. The promise of the liberal arts throughout history has been to prepare students to live as free persons readied by knowledge, by habits, by commitment, and by character to build just and democratic societies. So it remains today as Susquehanna University educates undergraduate students for productive, creative, and reflective lives of achievement, leadership, and service in a diverse and interconnected world.
Knowledge...habits...commitment...character -- the four pillars of a liberal arts education then and now.
Signe Gates, class of 1971 and a member of the University's Board of Trustees, has said that a Susquehanna education should help students understand their place in the chain of human history. Today you begin your journey to becoming educated women and men in the great tradition of the liberal arts that began so many years ago in Western Europe. You are joining that chain of human events.
Today the university begins its sesquicentennial year alongside the banks of the river from which we draw our name. In the native tongue, the word Susquehanna translates to "the river of long reach." In this year in which our university theme is Water and we welcome our largest class into the Susquehanna family, it is appropriate to seek and find inspiration in a river whose reach extends 444 miles from New York to Maryland -- the longest river on the Atlantic Coast. As well, Susquehanna hopes to have a long reach in your lives.
In addition to extending a hand of welcome to you and reflecting on our historic foundation, occasions like this provide an opportunity for sharing advice. This is my 23rd year of living on a college campus and while I would like to think I know a thing or two about college life; my fourteen-year-old, who regards me as an antique and hopelessly out of touch with modern living, disagrees. Thus, it seemed wise to bring some more authoritative counsel to this occasion. Over the years, I have collected volumes of advice from Susquehanna students, faculty, staff, and alumni. I share with you today a consolidation and synthesis of some of their advice about how each of you might make the most of your time here.
The advice I offer is not revolutionary, but it is sage, time worn and tested through 149 academic years at Susquehanna. It is so simple and obvious that it might not even seem necessary to say out loud. Yet, it is absolutely fundamental for us to fulfill our promise to you and for you to fulfill your own promise. And, so, the advice...
GO TO CLASS and GET INVOLVED!
- First and foremost, Susquehanna is about academic excellence. With a fine balance of liberal arts and professional programs you have access to an exceptional and deeply dedicated faculty who are accomplished in their respective fields and who have chosen the teaching of undergraduates as their primary focus. Their work -- and yours -- is strengthened by the highest quality research, scholarly, and creative works done in these halls. Through academics and co-curricular experiences, you will get to know these individuals for their great minds; but, also for their impact on you as passionate mentors, sage counselors, and loving critics. They will push you to waters you once feared and you will never forget them as you rise above the tide. But, it starts with being in class!
- Through collaboration, opportunities for intensive study, and many options to gain professional experience, you will be prepared for wherever your journey may take you. But, to take advantage of our faculty's knowledge, experience, and energy, you must be an active participant in the academic community at Susquehanna.
- Unquestionably, academic preparation is the foundation of a college education; however, the learning that takes place outside of a classroom or laboratory is also deeply important. Research on student engagement shows us that the time and energy students devote to educationally purposeful activities is the single best predictor of their learning and personal development.
- The opportunities for involvement at Susquehanna are vast...student government, community service, athletics, work study, intramurals, research, and many more. You will find Susquehanna to be a comfortable place to stretch and test yourself. Learning in the classroom will naturally spill over to the cafeteria, playing field, residence halls -- whether you realize it or not, our entire campus is a classroom. Be open to everything you experience on this campus -- the more open you are, the better the Susquehanna experience will be, from the education you receive to the wonderful friends you will make; however...
- Be mindful of priorities. Don't stretch yourself too thin -- make healthy choices in your academic and social lives, get enough sleep. These are fundamental goals essential for balance.
- The total collegiate experience that Susquehanna offers you comes from the abundance of opportunities to participate, develop your voice, lead, and serve. Your education, then, is within a community of learners and teachers who want to connect with you.
The anthology of advice on how to succeed in college grows exponentially each year. Whether it is avoiding stepping on those fragrant gingko berries on Kurtz Lane or learning to love coffee, the lore of how to succeed at Susquehanna is an institutional history of its own. The unifying theme, though, is intangible.
Your success at Susquehanna University is yours to create.
Your college experience is what you make it.
No two Susquehanna experiences are the same. Be careful not to fall in into or settle for someone else's Susquehanna. As a member of the Residence Life Staff said, "If you follow the crowd, you are fulfilling someone else's purpose at Susquehanna. Create your own crowd and fulfill your own purpose."
Coming to college brings new freedom, growing independence and more responsibility. Your education is a partnership. It will not be imposed upon you, you will not merely be a recipient of knowledge - you will be an active participant in the process of learning and discovery of knowledge. Your partners in this endeavor are the Susquehanna faculty and staff as well as your fellow students. Mentors are all around you from your faculty advisor, student work supervisor, coach, resident assistant, student organization advisor, public safety officer, financial aid staff, campus laborers and custodians, administrative and academic assistants, deans, vice presidents, and me.
You will find your Susquehanna partners available and accessible. We will be clear about our expectations and provide support for you to set and accomplish your goals. We will guide you to learning opportunities that will help you discover the person you will become. In this partnership, you will be challenged, inspired, and tested -- and so will we.
What do we expect of you? First, be present, be prepared, work smart. Know and fulfill your academic requirements, meet your obligations, and adhere to the University's expectations for appropriate conduct. Communicate openly with your parents.
Listen. Think. Act. Ask. Learn. Grow.
In one of the seminal texts about higher education, Nevitt Sanford outlines that both challenge and support are necessary for learning.
While we are confident that we can help you reach your goals, given the talents we see in you, our expectation is that we will help you to reach further than you might even be envisioning today. It is your pursuit of goals not presently conceived, known or understood that is perhaps the most important and defining measure of academic excellence in the tradition of the liberal arts. It is also the most important outcome or result for those students who come here and give us their full measure.
You can reach further than you might have imagined and we are here to help you grasp the future tightly with both hands and move confidently toward it.
So, as you settle into your home here alongside the River of the Long Reach. I issue a challenge to you: (pause) Reach for your goals and dreams, Ready yourself to reach further than you might have imagined possible, and Make the most of the opportunity that begins today.
Know that we are all deeply committed to you fulfilling your promise. We will walk alongside you every step of the way so that in four years, you will walk across the stage in the Garrett Field House to receive your degree. Strong communicators with a sense of responsibility to the common good, self, community, and profession, you will carry the mantle of Susquehanna forward as honorable stewards and faithful alumni of this venerable institution of higher learning.
There is little question that this is a momentous time in the lives of all assembled here today. And, students, while our focus has been on you today, your parents are deeply important to your development and education. And so, too, I want to share advice for parents as we welcome you to the Susquehanna family.
Our primary relationship is with your students and they are accountable to you and the University. We share a special partnership with parents to help students become independent thinkers and decision makers. It is our goal to prepare students for successful lives after graduation and we work with students to help them make good decisions and to learn from the outcomes of the decisions they make.
You play an enormously important role in the development of your daughters and sons by discussing their concerns and needs, helping them to become advocates for themselves and others, and directing them toward the appropriate resources, rather than acting on their behalf. Please don't hesitate to reach out to the University, but we hope you will understand that we will almost always want to involve your students in those conversations, as this is an important part of helping them to learn and grow.
I asked a group of sophomores what advice they would share with parents. I learned a lot about parents from them. Here are the Dos and Don'ts they shared with me:
DO:
- Get an instant messenger account. Just don't be a cyber stalker or you might get blocked.
- Keep up on all things Susquehanna through the Web site and publications -- ask questions of your students
- Challenge your students to take risks
- Remind your students that they can call you about anything (and be ready to listen).
DON'Ts for parents of new students:
- Don't talk too much
- Don't be surprised if your children don't call . . . don't be surprised if they call everyday!
- One student said, "My mom forgot that I am used to making my own decisions." Don't forget that simple fact when they come home for breaks.
- Don't micromanage your student's life
- Don't give away their bed . . .or turn their room into a sewing room.
Many students said something like the following "My parents have been great." They appended one last Don't...don't worry too much.
To this excellent advice, I would add to three nuggets of my own:
- Care packages are always welcome
- Come for Homecoming (October 5-7) and Family Weekend (Nov. 9-11).
- Come anytime . . . Just don't come unexpectedly.
Let me close with a story shared by a dear friend that captures some of what is bound up in this moment of time. Parents, you need to have the faith of the shipbuilder.
Launching a ship is hard: full of excitement, concern, doubt, but ultimately the shipbuilder must test the vessel and that test must come at sea.
You have worked to make your human vessel sea worthy . . . You have cared and loved this person for the past 17 or 18 years . . .You have molded their character and nourished their intellect.
Like the shipbuilder, launch your vessel with confidence and faith in your work . . . Know, too, that the ship will come back to port . . . every few months . . .
To be restocked, to have the sails repaired, to have barnacles removed from the hull . . . Your work is not done, but for the shipbuilder there is great pride and joy at watching your ship take to the water.
May you leave this place with great pride and joy that your vessels have been launched here at Susquehanna University.
Members of the class of 2011:
Our mission at Susquehanna is to help prepare you to lead productive, creative and reflective lives of achievement, leadership, and service in a diverse and interconnected world. My prayer for each of you is that you will come to find your place here and in the larger world through the experience, the adventure, and the journey that you begin today.
- You have come to a noble and excellent place
- You have come to be enriched and enlightened
- You have come to be challenged and nurtured
- May you come to understand that you will change, so too will you change this place and you will prepare yourself to change this world
- You will come to be a part of the tapestry that is Susquehanna University and the larger tapestry that is this time in human history.
- Let your threads be bright and may your stitches here and in the world be brilliant.
Godspeed.
