Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Three Things Chancellor Syverud Wants New Students to Know (Video)

Friday, August 26, 2016, By Maren Guse Powell
Share
Kent Syverud

On Thursday night, Chancellor Kent Syverud, on behalf of Syracuse University, welcomed more than 4,000 first-year and transfer students at the New Student Convocation in the Dome. Photo by Steve Sartori

On Thursday night, Chancellor Kent Syverud, on behalf of Syracuse University, welcomed more than 4,000 first-year and transfer students at the New Student Convocation in the Carrier Dome.

The Dome, a special place for Syracuse University, is where all students begin and complete their academic careers—from New Student Convocation to Commencement.

Chancellor Syverud shared many thoughts with Syracuse’s new students. Here are three key things he wants new students to know:

1) At Syracuse University, education is earned through hard work and discipline.

“Chancellor Erastus Haven told students that education is not something bestowed on you, but something you earn through hard work, and discipline, and seriousness of intent. He urged that a good education encompasses a full range of disciplines—from the arts, to the sciences, to the humanities. He believed that students learn not only from teachers but from their peers, and in the process each students would become a teacher himself or herself, including obtaining friendships that would last a lifetime. I am in wonder that Chancellor Haven in 1871 could so accurately predict what each of you will experience in 2016.”

2) If you have wonder, you will never lack wonderful experiences.

“Wonder is about two things. It is about just noticing what you don’t understand and asking why. And it is about being open to the awe and joy of learning or discovering something new, someone different, some place that is truly wonderful. If you have a capacity to wonder at this great University, you will never lack for wonderful experiences. And that’s because almost everything that happens here—almost everything that has happened here—started out because someone, often a student, wondered ‘why.’”

3) Syracuse University has a glorious history, steeped in tradition.

“I ask you to have the capacity to wonder how you can make this University your own—how you can ask something here, how you can build something here, how you can prove something here, and leave something behind here, that you alone uniquely contribute. We all want to help you do that, because this University is nothing less than the accumulation of all the wonders that thousands of students, faculty and staff have made before you.”

Watch Chancellor Syverud’s address here.

  • Author

Maren Guse Powell

  • Recent
  • Whitman Honors Outstanding Alumni and Friends at 2025 Awards and Appreciation Event
    Tuesday, June 10, 2025, By News Staff
  • The Libraries’ Resources: A Staff and Faculty Benefit
    Monday, June 9, 2025, By News Staff
  • Forecasting the Future With Fossils
    Sunday, June 8, 2025, By Caroline K. Reff
  • ECS Professor Pankaj K. Jha Receives NSF Grant to Develop Quantum Technology
    Friday, June 6, 2025, By Kwami Maranga
  • Libraries Innovation Scholar Launches Utopia, a Transparent Beauty Brand
    Friday, June 6, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Deadline Set for Fiscal 2025 Year End Business

Cash Operations has set a deadline of 3:30 p.m. on Monday, June 30, 2025, to receive deposits at the Bowne Cash Operations office for credit in fiscal year 2025. Deposits should be made as early in the day as possible…

The Libraries’ Resources: A Staff and Faculty Benefit

Syracuse University Libraries is a critical asset to student success and faculty research and teaching. But Syracuse University staff may not realize that all the collections, services and spaces available through the Libraries are also available for staff use. Anyone…

DPS Earns Accreditation From International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) is thrilled to announce that it has achieved accreditation from the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA), the leading authority for campus public safety. Fewer than 100 agencies have earned this distinctive…

Blackstone LaunchPad Founders Circle Welcomes New Members

Syracuse University Libraries’ Blackstone LaunchPad welcomed 34 graduates of the Class of 2025 as new members of the Founders Circle. They were selected in recognition of launching or leading ventures at the University while students, as well as contributing to…

Neal Powless Inducted Into American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame

You could say that lacrosse is in Neal Powless’s blood. Powless G’08, the University ombuds, is a member of the Onondaga Nation Eel Clan. He is the son, grandson and brother of legendary lacrosse players. Powless picked up a lacrosse…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.