Encouraged to make the most of all Elon University has to offer, and challenged to spend the next four years preparing for their lifelong roles as global citizens, members of the Class of 2013 gathered for the first time on Aug. 29, 2009, Under the Oaks of campus for New Student Convocation.
In his address, Elon University President Leo M. Lambert reminded students that very few people in the world are afforded the opportunity to attend college, and in fact, much of the global population is illiterate and impoverished. It is the responsibility of those who receive an education to improve the lives of those less fortunate than themselves.
“Your presence here places you among the most privileged people on this earth,” he said. “Today might be a good day to whisper a prayer of thanksgiving for all the blessings of your life that have brought you to this grove of oaks. It’s also a day to contemplate the big question, ‘What am I going to do with the gift of an Elon education?’”
Lambert also pushed students to expand their minds by contemplating new ideas, both in and out of the classroom.
“Expect and embrace academic challenge at Elon,” Lambert said. “The faculty are going ask you to leave your intellectual comfort zone, to consider new points of view, to construct more persuasive arguments, to analyze more deeply, to think more independently, and to read and write more than ever has been expected of you in the past.”
The hour-long ceremony, which witnessed two passing trains on the railroad tracks across Lebanon Avenue, featured remarks from associate professor Donna Van Bodegraven in the Department of Foreign Languages; Elon senior Justin Peterson, executive president of the Student Government Association; and Charles L. Griffith, whose daughter is a rising senior and who offered a message to parents.
“Enjoy your time because it goes by faster than I can ever explain,” Peterson told the Class of 2013. “You are now a voice on campus … use that voice to your advantage and make something of it.”
Van Bodegraven shared with students the cornerstones of the Elon University Honor Code – honesty, integrity, responsibility and respect – and how faculty expect the incoming freshmen to live by those tenets as they begin their collegiate studies.
Griffith, the final speaker of the morning, reassured parents in the audience that Elon is a place where their children will learn and mature under the guidance of superior faculty and staff who care for the community.
“Everyone I have come into contact with at Elon absolutely loves this place,” he said. “There is a culture here that is truly special. Students genuinely care about others, and they believe others share the same feelings about them.”
Following the ceremonies, students processed through lines of faculty and received an acorn, a traditional gift that symbolizes the promise of an Elon education. Students soon were in meetings with their academic advisors as parents met for a Special College Coffee around Fonville Fountain in front of Alamance.