(upbeat music)
- Newest members of the Penn family,
please join me in the spirit
of prayer for our invocation.
This year has been so difficult.
Many of us have had loved
ones become ill or worse,
or had family members lose jobs,
where it felt the sting of
racism and racist violence.
And while not a matter of life or death,
it's still disappointing.
Most of you didn't get to
have a proper graduation
and this isn't how we had hoped your new
student orientation would go.
2020 has been hard, very hard,
but perhaps, fearfully we're
about to begin a new chapter.
Life presents us these liminal moments,
we find ourselves
standing in the threshold
on the cusp of something new.
We look back and celebrate or grieve,
what was left behind,
we look forward perhaps
with some trepidation
to what awaits us.
I give thanks for the class of 2024,
we're in one of these
liminal inbetween moments
in their academic careers
and in their lives.
May this class bravely
process through the gates
that stand before them
for their personal
transitions here at Penn,
academically, socially,
in student activities,
athletically and more.
But it seems that we're in a transition
season as a world too,
may these students help all of us
cross over into the new as well,
to envision what a post COVID society
could and should look like.
May they help us turn the page on racism
and all forms of hate.
And during their season here
at the University of Pennsylvania,
may they know that they are not alone,
that the entire faculty and
staff and administration
are here to journey
with them into the new,
but we also need them to help
us take steps forward too.
Be their strength, protect
them, give them wisdom,
joy amidst the weight of the moment
and stedfast peace
and love enough to push
back on hate and fear.
Amen.
(soft music)
- Thank you Chaplain Howard.
Class of 2024 and incoming
transfer students,
as your Dean of Admissions,
I am most proud to welcome
you into the Penn community
on behalf of the entire
team in Penn admissions
and our academic and
university life colleagues
across campus,
you engage with the broader Penn community
and with each other through
virtual Quaker days events
and have continued to build bonds
through pre-orientation and
new student orientation.
You are ready to take the next steps
to truly thrive at Penn.
Your individual voices resonated
through your own essays,
supportive letters from
your teachers and counselors
and through your
conversations with volunteers
of the Penn Alumni Interview Program.
And yes, you achieved at the
highest levels in the classroom
and in the broader communities
in your own cities and
towns around the globe.
In fact, 83% of the admitted class
engage in civic and community outreach
while attending secondary school,
the highest single form
of co or extracurricular
participation and leadership by far.
The desire and ability to find one's voice
and to purposefully reach beyond yourself,
to help others, are great
qualities to possess.
But that is only the star.
Now we meet this
collection of 2,500 voices
to truly learn from one another,
by challenging some of
your own assumptions,
to hear another point of view,
to find understanding out of disagreement.
I challenge all of you to think critically
and to strengthen the
experience of the entire Penn,
Philadelphia and the other communities,
which you will touch
now and in the future.
Dr. Guttman, 11 years ago,
I first handed a Penn relays
baton into your caring hands
and now I pass over to
you the class of 2024
and transfer students as we
start a new academic year.
- Thank you, Dean Furda.
Wait, too soon.
Perfect.
The Baton has been passed,
let's get started with convocation.
Anything is possible with amazing Quakers
like Dean Furda on your team.
His latest and greatest
accomplishment is all of you.
Welcome great class of
2024 and transfer students.
Your time at Penn comes at the most
pivotal moment in your lifetime and ours.
We won't downplay the
challenges of this pandemic,
but we are extremely
optimistic for the future,
I can't wait to welcome you to campus.
Right now, your class embarks on something
never before attempted,
there will be setbacks, yes,
more remarkably, there
will be great opportunities
to do things differently, more creatively.
This moment cries out
for mission driven grit
and a united community.
Yours will be the class defined by both,
and you will be in great company.
Each year, some Penn seniors win
our President's Engagement Prizes
for their world changing projects.
Early last spring, Brendan
Taliaferro seized the prize
for a program where volunteers
would provide shelter
for local homeless, gay
and transgender youth.
COVID struck just before Brendan's project
was about to launch,
suddenly, the effort appeared doomed.
Grit and community are the
hallmarks of a Penn education,
so Brendan pivoted with this team support,
they are now partnering
with local youth shelters
and restaurants to get hot
meals to young people in need.
It's a model of community caring
that can be adopted wildly,
and it began in a historic pandemic.
So too, begins your Penn education,
its contours will be defined
by mission driven grit
and a united community.
Grit and community can alter history.
We just saw this last month,
when the world lost
Congressman John Lewis.
A champion of the civil rights movement,
John was the youngest speaker
at the March on Washington.
He lifted his voice for
justice, for Black Americans,
for the precious right to vote
for the beloved community.
Decades later, he summed
it all up like this,
"If you come together with a mission
grounded with love and
a sense of community,
you can make the impossible possible."
In 2012, Congressman Lewis
joined our Penn family,
now your family, as an
honorary degree recipient.
We honor his example, we learn from it.
Determined in his devotion
to mission and community,
John moved a president and a nation.
He inspired millions to
embrace the better angels
of our nature,
he fought to enshrine
the equal right to vote,
as we reaffirm yes, black lives matter.
As we confront this pandemic,
these shiny examples call out to us.
Stick to your mission,
stand with your beloved community.
I know time seem dim right now,
I know how that feels.
I was a first year like you
when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
was assassinated.
Devoted to civil rights, I
was horrified, devastated.
The Vietnam War tore at our social fabric,
times felt dire then too.
But as John Lewis would say,
"This is not the time
to dwell on setbacks,
this is the time to step up.
This is the time to unite, together."
This year especially,
with a historic election,
you possess real power to step up
through the essential democratic right
and responsibility to vote.
The vote is the most powerful
nonviolent change agent
you have in a democratic society.
John Lewis wrote in his final words to us,
"You must use it because
it is not guaranteed."
As we mark the 100th anniversary
of the woman's right to
vote in the United States,
I recall vividly going with
my mom to the voting booth,
her mom, my Bubba holding
me here, was an immigrant.
She was the very first
woman in my family to vote.
I take tremendous pride
in Penn leads the vote,
our student leaders who get the vote out
and the civic engagement
of all Penn students.
Together, we are a long, proud
unbound line of citizens,
all united for a common mission.
All the more so in this time of COVID,
I urge you to take your
place among them, vote.
Marching forward together
with mission driven grit,
a community united, your
Penn family can and will make
the impossible possible.
You now march with us, with
Penn purpose and pride,
we couldn't be happier or more
excited that you are here.
Welcome to your moment, welcome to Penn.
Now we will hear from
our wonderful provost,
Wendell Pritchett.
(soft music)
- Good evening,
as provost, Penn's Chief Academic Officer,
it's my pleasure to welcome
you to the Penn community.
Typically I might've said campus,
but this year is anything
and everything, but typical.
Wherever you are, know
that you are a critical
and valued member of our community.
And what will this year look
like for the Penn community?
If I told you I knew, I'd be lying
and you wouldn't believe me anyway.
Things are and will be different,
unpredictable seems fitting.
What I wanna share with you
tonight is not predictions
or even guesses about the next few months.
It's some thoughts about
where we are as a university,
as a nation, and how in the years to come,
your Penn can help us move forward.
This has been a tumultuous,
upsetting and at moments,
inspiring period for this country
and for people of color in particular.
Our inequalities have been
laid bare often on video,
including the outsized impact COVID
continues to have on
black and brown people.
Millions of people carry
the weight of injustice,
Penn too, is not immune from racism,
it has historical ties to slavery
and discredited medical
practices like eugenics.
We feel that weight,
without acknowledging and
examining our difficult paths,
we cannot move beyond it.
As co-chair of the Penn Slavery Project,
an initiative started by students,
this is an endeavor that
I take very seriously
and one I encourage you to
explore while you're here.
Equally important, we're
examining our present,
our statues and icons,
our policing policy and
our naming conventions.
We've been exploring issues
of inequality through
our campaign for community
and this year we'll even
place greater focus on them
through many efforts,
including our year of
community engagement.
Penn is not perfect, but our
community strives to be better.
Like Penn, our country can only
be progress by understanding
how and why we've arrived at this point.
You've worked incredibly hard
to get here and are now among
the fortunate few attending one
of the world's greatest universities,
regardless of where you're sitting.
It's up to you and young people like you,
no matter what they look
like or where they come from,
to push our nation forward and to support
one another on that journey.
How can a Penn education
I can help you do that?
First, you'll make intellectual
and social connections here
that will serve you well.
The pandemic may mean it will take longer
to build those ties, but I
promise you it will happen
and these ties will last forever.
Second, the exposure
to different viewpoints
will shape your ideas,
interests and priorities,
and then knowledge and insight
you gain will be foundational
to your future success.
For a moment I'd like
to dwell on that word.
What do we mean by success?
The last six months have
reminded us of something
we've always known,
that individual
achievement while laudable,
is not nearly enough.
Darren Walker, President
of the Ford Foundation
and someone who by his own admission,
began life in the bottom 1% and worked
his way to the very top,
noted recently that,
"No Chief Executive,
investor or a rich person
wakes up in the morning,
looks in the mirror and says,
today, I wanna go out and create more
inequality in America."
And yet all too often, that
is exactly what happens.
It's not enough just
to do well in America,
we all must do the hard
work of battling racism,
injustice and inequality,
of healing our world.
I hope and I know you
will do the heavy lifting
that your good fortune demands,
you will lead in word indeed.
Real leadership, true
leadership means taking people
where they may be reluctant to go,
because it's right and because it's just.
And you'll do this work,
not because it's easy,
but because it's very, very difficult.
I urge you to envision how
success looks, not just for you,
but for all members of our
community and our country.
Are we at a tipping point?
I hope we are.
I believe we are poised
for something greater,
and I know you will lift
us and lead us forward.
Members of the class of
2024, welcome to Penn.
(soft music)
- Penn is a place where
you get to meet students
from all over the world
with different backgrounds,
interests and hobbies, and
really make it your home.
- The most surprising thing about Penn,
is all the different kinds of talented
people you get to meet.
- Penn is a place where you are constantly
inspired by your peers.
- Most Penn students are
ambitious, driven, kind,
passionate and willing to learn.
- The single most important
piece of advice I can give you
is this, find something
you're passionate about that
and pursue that.
- Do not be afraid to
experiment and try new things,
especially in regards to
extracurriculars and academics.
- There are so many ways to
engage with knowledge outside
of the classroom,
these are the moments that truly
define the Penn experience.
- Do an activity that
really doesn't necessarily
align with your academic interests
because learning comes in
and outside of the classroom.
- Please make sure that
you make time to explore
the different things
that Penn has to offer,
because you never know
where it might lead you.
- Philadelphia is part of
what makes Penn so great
and exploring that community
is one of the best ways
I think, to get the most
out of the Penn experience.
- Penn is a place where you find yourself.
- Don't be afraid to ask
for help and offer help
to those in need.
- I think you can get the most
out of your Penn experience
by pursuing something that you love
and not conforming to what
everyone else is doing.
- What makes Penn special
is its community of students
who are proud to stand up
for what they believe in.
- The most surprising thing about Penn,
is that there is a
community, a place, a club
a home for everyone.
- And the most important thing
to remember here at Penn,
is to stay true to what
makes you passionate
and by going against the norm
is just as cool as staying with it.
- Before you graduate Penn,
you have to throw toast
in a football game.
- You will generally
see a change in yourself
between your first year
and your last year.
I always say,
"it's not a place where you
leave the same way you came."
(soft music)
- The most important thing
to remember here at Penn,
is that you made it so far
and you're gonna make it all the way.
So just trust yourself, trust the process
and you got it.
- The biggest piece of
advice I'd have for incoming
first years at Penn,
is to have a sense of how
to stay true to ourself
while also being open
minded to the new people
and experiences that you'll face at Penn.
- Focus in doing the things
that you always wanted to do
and things you find interesting
and don't feel pressured
by things that other people
around you are doing.
- I wish somebody told me whenever
I was an incoming freshman at Penn,
that my freshmen fall
GPA would not define me.
- Remain undeclared as long as you can.
There is no rush, so be
generous with yourself
and take your time to find
your academic interests
and your larger goals.
- Don't bite off more than you can chew.
It's a marathon, not a sprint.
- The most surprising thing about Penn,
is just the sheer amount of possibilities.
- The most important thing
to remember here at Penn,
is that you deserve to be here.
- I wanna give a huge
welcome to the class of 2024.
We're all so excited to
see what the next few years
have in store for you.
- Welcome to Penn, the next four years,
are completely what you make of them,
so be proactive and chase what you want.
- Welcome class of 2024.
- Congratulations class of 2024,
welcome to Penn and go Quakers.
- Welcome to Penn and good luck this year.
(soft music)
- The sophomore class
welcomes the class of 2024
to the University of Pennsylvania.
- The junior class welcomes
you the class of 2024
to the University of Pennsylvania.
- The senior class welcomes all of you
to the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Gottman, I'm pleased to present to you
the class of 24 flag.
- Thank you, Derek, Sam and
Lizzie for your thoughts
in transmitting the flag
of the great class of 2024.
It now joins the flags of previous classes
at official university events
and future alumni celebrations.
With the presentation of the
class of 2024 flag complete,
it is now my honor and my
privilege to officially declare,
the start of the 281st year
of the University of Pennsylvania.
I wanna thank all of the
participants who joined us today
with a particular shout out
to the Penn Band, Glee club,
The Inspiration, Penn Sirens
and the Shabbat Tones,
who will now lead us in
singing the Penn anthem,
"The Red and Blue."
This is a very special Penn
tradition that we normally
do all together.
I assure you that opportunity
will come again soon,
so it's best to start
learning the words today,
wherever you are, join in and sing along.
♪ Come, all ye loyal classmen now ♪
♪ In hall and campus through ♪
♪ Lift up your hearts and voices
for The royal Red and Blue ♪
♪ Fair Harvard has her crimson ♪
♪ Old Yale her colors too ♪
♪ But for dear Pennsylvania ♪
♪ We wear the Red and Blue ♪
♪ Hurrah, Hurrah, Pennsylvania ♪
♪ Hurrah for the Red and the Blue ♪
♪ Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah ♪
♪ Hurrah for the Red and Blue ♪
