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Celebrating the beginning of the academic year and officially welcoming the Emmanuel College Class of 2028, the College held its annual Academic Convocation on Thursday, September 5th.
Emmanuel College President Dr. Beth Ross addressed students, staff and faculty in attendance in the spirit of kicking off a new school year – and for members of the Class of 2028, their first few days on campus at Emmanuel College.
Dr. Ross said she hoped the incoming first-year students were feeling the draw of the “Emmanuel current – the extraordinary confluence of people, experiences, values, energy and possibilities that have formed and transformed generations of students.”
The Class of 2028 also received advice from Vice President of the Class of 2025, Kathryn Crowley ’25. Crowley told the incoming class what many in her life told her: that she would get out whatever she put into her college experience.
Having been on her Emmanuel journey for more than three years now, she expanded on what that wisdom now means to her.
“Your effort and your willingness to engage defines your experience. I encourage you to take advantage of every opportunity that you possibly can. Say yes to those plans, join that club, apply for that position, study hard and ask for help – and make every effort you can to explore what you’re passionate about.”
A Recurring Tradition
Starting the academic year with words of wisdom and encouragement for the incoming class is what the tradition of Academic Convocation is all about, as Dr. Ross explained further. The event expresses the College’s commitment to community and common purpose, as well as rooting the tradition in context that reaches back hundreds of years.
It reminds the Emmanuel College community of the institution’s founding and commitment to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Dr. Ross said, which at its core means the pursuit of knowledge, truth and wisdom.
“Dr. Beth Ross, President of Emmanuel CollegeConsidering the impressive achievements of our faculty and our location in the world’s great crossroads of science, technology, culture and education, I would propose that we at Emmanuel are not only part of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition: we are at its leading edge.”
Dr. Brianne Jacobs
Dr. Jacobs highlighted the value and goal of a liberal arts education: “cultivating your freedom, your power and your responsibility in the world.”
Her three pieces of advice, which she said are fundamental to meeting those aims, were to try on different ideas, approach the text as something with infinite meaning, and write your own papers.
In the course of workshopping new and different ideas, such as “agreeing, disagreeing, changing [and] growing, you will become a more thoughtful, but ultimately free person,” Dr. Jacobs said. She reminded students to come to class with questions and incomplete knowledge – which isn’t a deficiency, she added, it’s a goal.
She left off with three quick wishes too: that students will change their mind about something, find beauty in something, and write something in their own voice that they’re proud of.
Dr. Xiaowei Zhao
Dr. Zhao began his remarks paying homage to Dr. Jaworek-Lopes, who he said “was and still is a role model for her peers, including me.”
He then asked members of the Class of 2028 not to be afraid to step outside their comfort zone, to be bold and to try new things.
He said his own academic journey – through which he ended up as a professor of psychology after majoring in physics and receiving a Ph.D. – is a prime example of the Forrest Gump quote “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”
“Indeed, life has a funny way of taking you down a path you never expected, so be open to new experiences, you never know where they might lead you,” Dr. Zhao said.
Lastly, he encouraged the incoming class to build relationships and exercise good time management – which he said would be key to a successful college career and success in life beyond college as well.
