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

Two Pieces of Advice Chancellor Syverud Shared with New Students at Convocation (With Video)

Tuesday, August 30, 2022, By Kathleen Haley
Share
Chancellor Kent SyverudProvost Gretchen RitterStudents

Before new students recited the charge to officially become part of the Orange family and swayed to the alma mater, Chancellor Kent Syverud offered two bits of advice to the incoming class during New Student Convocation.

The first: Come as you are.

“If you have not figured it out yet, you will pretty soon: there is no one way of thinking, no one way of dressing, no one person who is the ‘normal’ here. People are unique and amazing and dazzlingly different,” Chancellor Syverud said to the 4,000-plus new undergraduates and their families in the JMA Wireless Dome Thursday, Aug. 25.

“Given that there is no ‘normal’ here, why not try just being yourself? Not the image of perfection that appears on social media; not the identical replica of someone else, but just be you,” he said. “I believe you will find that if you come as you are here, you will become Orange.”

The second: Become more at Syracuse.

person in academic regalia standing at podium

Chancellor Kent Syverud addresses new students during Convocation Aug. 25. (Photo by Jeremy Brinn)

“That’s the common thread in every speech you are hearing this week. You have a chance that has been denied to so many people in this world: a chance to be part of a great university,” Chancellor Syverud said. “What a waste, if you end up here without learning and doing and becoming more than you are now. So please, become more here, in your own unique and defining way.”

New students were officially welcomed to the University during New Student Convocation—an academic program with leadership and faculty progressing into the JMA Dome with full regalia—kicking off the academic year. A highlight of Syracuse Welcome, it’s both the first time new students gather together as a class and a bookend to the next time they will all be together in the JMA Dome: Commencement.

Chancellor Syverud also shared his congratulations to the parents and families of those students who are now Syracuse Orange.

“We know how much you have poured into these entering students, who are now adults. We know you want to continue to be there for them in different ways—ways that match the need for these adults to start off on their own in a great university,” Chancellor Syverud said. “We know the treasure you have entrusted to us, and so many of us take that responsibility very seriously.”

Gretchen Ritter, vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer, encouraged the new class to boldly follow their creativity and remember a quote from philosopher and educator John Dewey: “Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.” 

“Dewey believed—and I believe—that imagination is a vehicle for learning in all fields: from science and math, to politics and literature, to art and music,” Ritter said. “And audacity is the courage to stretch your thinking beyond the boundaries of current understanding.”

person in academic regalia standing at podium

During New Student Convocation Aug. 25, Gretchen Ritter, vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer, encouraged new students to boldly follow their creativity.

The determined charge of “Go Orange” empowers students with the freedom to be bold.

“It’s the rallying cry to explore the far reaches of your imagination—with audacity,” Ritter said. “We need your brave creativity to envision a world that provides economic opportunity to talented strivers of all backgrounds and abilities.”

Among other speakers, Allen Groves, senior vice president and chief student experience officer, and Marcelle Haddix, associate provost for strategic initiatives and Dean’s Professor of Literacy, Race and Justice, also shared remarks with students.

Before Convocation ended, students sang the alma mater, swaying arm in arm with their fellow students, ready for their academic career at Syracuse University to begin.

  • Author

Kathleen Haley

  • Recent
  • Libraries Innovation Scholar Launches Utopia, a Transparent Beauty Brand
    Friday, June 6, 2025, By News Staff
  • Ian ’90 and Noah Eagle ’19 Share a Love of Sportscasting and Storytelling (Podcast)
    Thursday, June 5, 2025, By John Boccacino
  • Blackstone LaunchPad Founders Circle Welcomes New Members
    Thursday, June 5, 2025, By Cristina Hatem
  • Japan’s Crackdown on ‘Shiny’ Names Sparks Cultural Reflection
    Tuesday, June 3, 2025, By Keith Kobland
  • The Milton Legacy: Romance, Success and Giving Back
    Monday, June 2, 2025, By Eileen Korey

More In Campus & Community

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…

The Milton Legacy: Romance, Success and Giving Back

Growing up, Stacey Milton Leal ’75 and Chris Milton heard countless stories about how Syracuse University brought their parents together in what would turn out to be a fairy tale romance with a happy forever ending. So it was no…

Syracuse University Libraries’ Information Literacy Scholars Produce Information Literacy Collab Journal

Earlier this month, Syracuse University Libraries’ Information Literacy Scholars published their first open access information literacy journal, Information Literacy Collab (ILC). It is available on SURFACE, the University’s open access institutional repository. ILC is a diamond open-access publication by and…

Trip to Atlanta Gives Falk Students ‘Real-World’ Opportunities and Connections

The city of Atlanta is home to professional sports franchises in major leagues: Atlanta United FC (Major League Soccer), the Braves (Major League Baseball), Dream (WNBA), Falcons (NFL), and Hawks (NBA). Atlanta also features professional teams in lacrosse, rugby, and…

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.