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On Tuesday, August 27, Penn’s Opening Convocation was held in the Palestra due to the threat of rain. The Penn Band, Penn Sirens and the Glee Club performed.
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Vice President and Secretary of the University Leslie Kruhly, holding the Mace, led the procession, followed by President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price, and the deans. |
An Invocation for the Incoming Class
The Rev. Charles L. Howard, University Chaplain
Fifty years ago this month, thousands of women and men descended upon this nation’s capital in a unified act of courage that has come to be known as the March on Washington. No word was uttered, yelled, sung or prayed more that day than the word “Freedom.”
And that is my prayer for all of you during your season here at the University of Pennsylvania.
That you would be free.
Free to follow your dreams—To discern your future vocation, to discover your passions and grow into the person that you are meant to be.
I pray that you would be free of unhealthy pressure—That you’d be stress free, motivated by desire, a joy of learning and an intellectual curiosity, rather than a fear of failure or a fear of disappointing others.
I pray that you would give and share of your many gifts freely—That you would lead, serve in our community, dance, sing and play on the field with the kind of freedom that produces brilliance.
Class of 2017, I pray that you would not be bound by anything, but that during your time here at Penn you would feel free to be yourselves—your best selves. But this takes courage. May you march on, just as they did 50 years ago in Washington, DC. Because when you are brave enough to strive for freedom, you can change the world.
Amen. |
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Rev. Charles L. Howard, University Chaplain leads a prayer |
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Good Evening Class of 2017 and Transfer Students!
Eric Furda, Dean of Admissions
Over the last year each of you and the staff of the Office of Admissions have carefully pursued the perfect match—frequently online and at other times in person; you put your intellect and heart into your college application; we chose you based on your merit and personal stories; we are most grateful that you said ‘yes’ to our offer of admission; and believe me, we love you and will love you forever!!
But just like your families who said goodbye to you last week, it is time for the Office of Admissions ‘to let you go.’
President Gutmann, Provost Price, Trustees, Faculty, Alumni and Friends, as we embark on the beginning of the 274th academic year, I am honored to present to you 2,500 of the brightest young minds in the world and the perfect Penn match who will carry on the legacy of this great University.
On this evening, as Penn’s Dean of Admissions, I proudly pass this ceremonial Red and Blue baton, representing the Class of 2017, and transfers, into your caring hands. |
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Dean Eric Furda passes the baton to President Amy Gutmann |
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Penn Sirens performed musical selections |
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| President Amy Gutmann accepting the Class of 2017 flag from Spencer Penn, W'14, the Senior Class President |
Let the Experiment Be Made
President Amy Gutmann
Members of the Class of 2017: Welcome to Penn!
Students transferring to Penn from other schools: Smart move! We are so pleased you are joining us. To all of you, welcome to the Palestra, known far and wide as the Cathedral of Basketball.
You are about to embark on nothing less than a life transforming journey at a world-renowned university.
It is only suitable that we inaugurate this journey with a formal ceremony. This convocation is your rite of initiation.
It is our way of formally welcoming you to the unique community of scholars that is Penn. These robes the faculty, alumni, and I are wearing are not only apparently hot; they are also deliberate reminders of the seriousness of what we undertake here, and your part in it. They speak to the essential role of teaching, education, and deep thought in society.
Higher education has long been honored as possessing an element of the sacred.
Three professions in our society are set apart by being granted the privilege of wearing robes: judges, who administer justice; clergy, who elucidate the divine; and your professors, who will guide you on your journey to becoming highly educated adults.
You officially start today on that journey. This is a transition that many your age are also experiencing at other schools around the country. But you chose not to go to just any school. You chose to come to Penn. First off, brilliant choice! And I say that without any bias whatsoever.
Your choice assures me I am addressing the most astute college students anywhere. The numbers bear me out: you, the Class of 2017, were admitted from the strongest applicant pool in Penn’s history. You come from 48 states. That includes New Mexico, New York, and California, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida, and of course the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania! We are delighted to welcome the largest group in several years from Philadelphia County.
One out of every eight of you hails from a country other than the United States: 72 countries in all. And we are immensely proud that fully 12 percent of you—one out of eight—enter Penn as a first-generation college student.
You are all accomplished enough to gain admittance to any number of the world’s most selective universities. But you are even smarter than that, because you chose Penn. You see, Penn is in many ways truly unique.
We are a university that, from our very founding, has always placed a distinct emphasis on discovering and transmitting useful knowledge, knowledge that will help make a better world. We trace this focus directly back to our founder, Ben Franklin. Remember that Franklin—whose life almost perfectly tracked the 18th century—had a front row seat to the dawning of the scientific revolution. Only in his day, they didn’t refer to “science;” they called it “natural philosophy.”
By the middle of the 18th century, an intense debate raged among Europe’s natural philosophers as to whether lightning and electricity were related. Rather than speculating without a scintilla of evidence, Franklin declared, “Let the experiment be made!”
His kite and his key experiment later made him world famous. From that experiment, Franklin invented the lightning rod. By 1752, lightning rods were protecting Independence Hall and the University of Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Franklin placed the highest value on knowledge that can benefit humanity. We value it to this day.
Knowledge that helps humanity: This practical ideal propels Penn, your university. This is our spirit. This is the spirit of our extended family. This is a spirit that depends on the enthusiasm and energy you bring to our campus. You will repeatedly encounter smart people at Penn who want to do something useful, something to help humanity. They want the experiment to be made. They want to fly the most creative kite. They want to give the world the next best lightning rod.
This convocation marks the fact that you have arrived at the perfect place to try creative new things, to fail at a few (sometimes grandly), and to end up at a new and surprising point far from where you stand now.
Metaphorically speaking, you’re here to learn to stretch your wings and fly. Sometimes you will focus your eyes on a distant landing spot, and you will soar there directly. More often, you will just have to trust yourself and jump.
Without exception, your journey at Penn will be immensely more gratifying and successful if you do it in company. Engage while you are at Penn. Engage your professors. Engage your fellow classmates. Entertain new and challenging ideas. Your flights of discovery will help you find your own life-changing place at Penn.
Proud members of the Class of 2017 and equally proud transfer students: This is your time to embark on the journey of your life and a journey that also helps humanity. Be bold. And, like Franklin, let the experiment be made!
Welcome to Penn!
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| Spencer Penn, W'14, the Senior Class President, with the Class of 2017 Flag |
Celebrate Penn’s Past, Create Its Future
Provost Vincent Price
As Provost, I have the great pleasure of welcoming you to Penn.
Although this is your first—and, in fact, your only—freshman convocation, this tradition goes back many years. Consider the following report, published in The Daily Pennsylvanian on September 23rd, 1910, just over a hundred years ago: “Opening Day has returned with all the usual fireworks. In spite of the fact that classes begin earlier this year than they have for some time past…the cheerful sentiments seem to indicate that the returned vacationists have forgotten all about the bored and wearied looks with which they cut hours toward the close of the last term.”
Even back then, the DP was edgy.
They also noted that the “breeches-pulling contest”was highly anticipated . . . and that “Provost Harrison is not expected to be present, as he is suffering badly from hay-fever . . .” I’d rather not go into the details of the pants-pulling contest . . . I’ll simply say that Provost Harrison wisely decided to avoid it.
I mention this story tonight to draw your attention to what this moment marks—in your life, and in the life of this great University. It marks the inflection point: of tradition, and change; of an ending and a beginning; of dependence and independence.
As it turns out that particular year—1910—marked the end of a Penn tradition, and the beginning of another. That was the first year that opening day ceremonies—what we now call Convocation—were separated from the University’s traditional religious exercises. In fact, compulsory attendance at chapel was permanently discontinued in 1911. We do, however, encourage attendance here at the Palestra, called the Cathedral of College Basketball by ESPN.
Tonight is also both an end and a beginning. It is the capstone of your orientation, and the beginning of your studies. This marks the first—and, as it happens, the last—occasion that you will all gather together formally, as a class, before graduation.
This evening is about tradition and change. As you sit where generations of students have sat before, I ask you to consider how people—like the customs and rituals they observe—can evolve and adapt as circumstances change. And how you can make the most of those opportunities. Breech-pulling contests aside, your class will carry on traditions rooted in centuries of practice; but you will give them new life and new purpose: your own 21st century spin.
Tonight marks the beginning of your turn. The years in high school, your accomplishments and experiences, your family and friends: these extrinsic forces have helped you get here, to Penn. That’s behind you. What’s before you is perhaps the greatest opportunity afforded a person. Independence. The freedom to choose your own path. The ability to study what you want, to do what you want, when you want. To be and to become who you want. Now, the motivations must be intrinsic. They must be your own.
Such newfound freedom—another college tradition—may require some change and adaptation. The first is responsibility. Nobody here will make sure you get to class or make it home by midnight. We are not monitoring your every move, nor checking up on you. We’re not the NSA.
Now, I’m sure you will work hard. And I’m sure your professors will challenge what you know—or think you know. On occasion, they may upset you with a poor grade. And should that happen, you might have one of two reactions. First: This is too hard, I can’t do it. Or maybe. My professors are too hard, it’s their fault. Neither will be true, and neither will be of much help. Instead, I suggest you use such an occasion, or any other setback, as a chance to learn and adapt. Seek feedback. Discover new ways of moving forward. Accept responsibility, but don’t be too hard on yourself. View obstacles as stepping stones, not roadblocks. Try something new. This is your time. These are your choices. Most will be right. A few will be wrong. One or two might be really bad. But they will all be yours, and you will learn from them.
So tonight we sit, poised between past and future. Your future, and Penn’s, are now entwined. And just as this institution has marked a history of firsts—the nation’s first university; home to its first medical and business schools; the place where the first electronic computer was invented—I know you will continue this tradition.
But more than that, you will shape a new Penn—just as you will be shaped by your time here. Those changes might be evolutionary, or they might be revolutionary. But they will absolutely be your own.
Members of the Class of 2017, welcome to Penn.
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The Penn Band performed musical selections |
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The Glee Club performed musical selections |
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Introducing the Class of 2017 during Opening Convocation on Tuesday, August 27 in the Palestra |
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