On Friday, Nov. 6, at 4 p.m. (ET), the campus community is invited to the 17th annual WellsLink Transitions Ceremony, honoring the successful transition of WellsLink Scholars into their second year at Syracuse University. Registration is required for this first-ever virtual ceremony.
The nationally-recognized WellsLink Leadership Program, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, supports first-year students on their journey to academic excellence and leadership. Through the program, WellsLink Scholars develop the leadership skills necessary to flourish at Syracuse University and beyond, and the Transitions Ceremony celebrates their achievements.
“The Transitions Ceremony is an important milestone in the academic and professional careers of our scholars,” says Huey Hsiao, associate director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “Now more than ever, we hope that this ceremony further unites the campus community in the celebration of their achievements and serves as a time to look forward to what these young leaders will accomplish.”
Annette Gordon-Reed
This year’s keynote speaker is esteemed Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Harvard University professor, Annette Gordon-Reed. Gordon-Reed is a professor of history in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, and the Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School. Additionally, Gordon-Reed is the author of six books, including The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history and the National Book Award for nonfiction and fourteen other awards. It explores the inconsistencies of Jefferson’s stance on slavery and his relationship with enslaved woman Sally Hemings, and has been called “the best study of a slave family ever written” by noted Jefferson scholar Joseph Ellis. Gordon-Reed is also the recipient of the National Humanities Medal (presented by former President Barack Obama), a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship and was recently elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, among other honors. Following the ceremony and Annette’s remarks, there will be time for Q&A.
The WellsLink Leadership Program Class of 2023
About The WellsLink Leadership Program
The WellsLink Leadership Program is a nationally recognized academic and leadership excellence program for first-year students. Through structured academic, social and cultural enrichment activities, WellsLink Scholars develop the leadership capital necessary for exceptional success at Syracuse University and beyond. The program name was chosen to honor Barry L. Wells, founding director of Syracuse University’s first Office of Minority Affairs in 1976 and former senior vice president and dean of student affairs.
The WellsLink Leadership Program is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs in the Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience, and was designed by Director James K. Duah-Agyeman and former Associate Director Paul M. Buckley. Since the program’s inception in 2003, WellsLink Scholars have demonstrated outstanding leadership at the University with representation at the executive levels of many student organizations, task forces, committees and networks of service. They are high academic performers and balanced community citizens.
