On Thursday, August 24, the Carnegie Mellon class of 2010+ participated in Convocation, a type of welcoming ceremony similar to graduation. Every year, first-year students march into the orientation tent, grouped by college and led by their college’s flag. As is also the usual practice, this year’s students walked in to the music of Carnegie Mellon’s Pipes and Drums bagpipe band.

This year, Head Orientation Counselor and HSS senior Jamie Edwards led Convocation with a community welcome and introductions of all of the speakers.

After her came Mark Kamlet, the Provost of Carnegie Mellon. Kamlet spoke of the history of the university and explained the significance of the school’s motto, “My heart is in the work,” which comes from the letter Andrew Carnegie wrote when he first decided to fund what is now Carnegie Mellon.

The next speaker was Rachelle Emard, an HSS junior and Orientation Counselor, who spoke about going to a school with so many “bonafide nerds,” which makes her very proud.

“You pursue your interests because they make you happy,” Emard said to the first-years.

She told students about the diversity at Carnegie Mellon and emphasized the importance of learning about the passions of others, not just your own.  

This led well into the next speech, made by Mark Mentzer, the Head of the School of Design and last year’s faculty recipient of the William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching. While bringing up memories of his own experiences as a student at Carnegie Mellon, he explained that accepting one’s love for one’s interest while also learning to love the interests of others can help make someone an individual, a leader, and a team player.

Student Body President and HSS senior Karl Sjogren came up next to present the class of 2010 with their class tile. Carnegie Mellon tradition has it that through the next four years the tile should pass through the hands of everyone in the class before being placed with the other class tiles on the floor in Baker Hall.

After that, Carnegie Mellon President Jared Cohon presented the students of each college to their respective deans. Cohon commented on the humor and enthusiasm of the students as they were presented, acknowledging their cheers of school pride. The students of CFA shouted things such as “we’re more attractive,” CIT students waved signs, and the students of the Tepper School got so into their cheer that some of them sat down before they had even been formally presented to their deans. Some of the information systems students, who are a part of HSS, forgot to stand and had to be acknowledged twice. The most colorful school, however, was SCS; donning blinky-light glasses, the computer science students chanted while doing a dance.

The event ended with a singing of the alma mater and a bagpipe recession. All in all, this year’s Convocation went well and served as a nice official welcoming to Carnegie Mellon’s new students. 

	story images

At Convocation, HSS junior Rachelle Emard gave her speech about the benefits of Carnegie Mellon's "nerdiness."	The incoming class of the Carnegie Institute of Technology lines up for Convocation.
First-years go to take their seats in the Baker Hall Tent for Convocation.	Mark Mentzer, head of CFA's design department, added to his Convocation speech by sporting his first-year cap from when he attended Carnegie Mellon.
On August 24 during Orientation, these young women wait to lead their college out of Baker Hall and to the Convocation ceremony.	A rare "behind the podium" view of the first-years filing into the Baker Hall Tent before Convocation began.

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