(people chatting)
♪
- Hey, Niner Nation.
My name is Tahlieah Sampson
and I'm your student body president.
Welcome to UNC Charlotte
and virtual New Student Convocation.
(soft music)
This is day one of your college career.
I remember being in your shoes
just two short years ago.
It's exciting and a little scary too,
but I'm here to tell you not to worry.
You are now a part of Niner Nation.
We're more than a name.
We're a community,
a community of caring fellow Niners
and encouraging faculty and staff.
Being a part of Niner Nation,
opens up a road up unending possibilities.
Aren't you excited?
We know your journey here wasn't easy,
but this is your chance to
show the world what we know.
That you are driven, dedicated,
intelligent and accomplished.
You were selected among thousands
to be in this 2020 incoming class.
So check out this video to
see what you are made of.
♪
- Welcome 49ers.
My name is Joan Lorden and I'm the provost
and vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Today is day one of your
college career at UNC Charlotte.
A significant day for you,
whether you're a freshman
or a transfer student.
We're excited you chose to become a Niner
and we look forward to supporting you
throughout your college career.
As you can see, I'm standing
here with our mascot Norm
by our infamous Miner statue.
Why do we identify with a miner?
Well the miner symbolizes
hard work, perseverance
and the optimism that rich rewards await.
Although very few miners struck it rich
during the gold rush,
you have better odds.
What you will learn and the
degree that you'll earn,
will grow in value.
You'll receive your own goal pickax pen,
one of the symbols of our university.
Attach it to your lanyard
or on your backpack
to remind you of the miner
and what he symbolizes.
The first time you walk by the miner,
drop a penny in this pan
to mark the start of your
UNC Charlotte career.
You'll repeat this
tradition again as a senior.
When you receive your class rank,
you'll come back here and dip
your ring into the miner's pan
to celebrate the
completion of your degree.
Another tradition we have
is that on Wednesdays,
we wear green.
Make sure you join in on this
weekly tradition as students,
faculty and staff show
their collective Niner pride
by wearing Niner gear on
Wear Green Wednesdays.
Finally, one of the most
important traditions
is the ringing of the university bell
to celebrate the incoming class.
(bell ringing)
The UNC Charlotte bell is
rung at ceremonial occasions.
You'll hear it again at commencement.
It's not too soon to start
dreaming about that day,
and the faculty and staff
are here to help you
make a plan to get there.
So let's go forward
together in your journey
to a successful future
that is made in Charlotte.
(bell ringing)
- Hi, my name is Abby
and welcome to day one of
New Student Convocation.
- Coming from the class of 2022,
I'm telling y'all to get excited.
- Even though we're going
to be in a virtual platform,
the best thing you can do is
reach out to other students
and get connected.
- My name is Dallas, I'm in class of 2021
and I just want to remind you
that even though you're
coming to UNC Charlotte,
you're actually coming to
the greater Charlotte region,
and it is a pretty cool place.
(soft music)
- Hi, welcome to Niner Nation.
My name is (mumbles)
and I am class of 2022.
- I'm Joan Savannah,
and in times like these,
it's important to remember
that you're not alone.
There are ways to stay connected,
through Instagram, Snapchat,
Google Hangouts, Webex, Zoom
and even Netflix Party.
So remember, use these platforms
to stay connected with other Niners
because you need to now more than ever.
- Hello, Niners.
My name is (mumbles) I am class of 2020,
and one advice I would like to give you,
is make sure you get involved.
We have over 400 student organizations
and there's something for everybody.
- This is certainly the strangest year
I've ever experienced but
when we get through this,
we'll come together even
stronger as Niner Nation.
- I'm a Niner.
(speaks in foreign language)
(soft music)
- Good morning.
I'm chancellor Sharon Gaber.
Welcome to day one New
Student Convocation.
This is a big day,
the start of an exciting
adventure as a brand new 49er.
It's a big day for me too.
I was just appointed as
your chancellor in July.
And so as a new Niner,
I'm so excited to be on
this journey with you.
This is such a strange time.
The COVID-19 pandemic
has really put an unusual twist on things.
Our administration, faculty and staff
have been working tirelessly
throughout the past several months,
to make this transition
as smooth as possible.
Our faculty are prepared
to deliver high quality
engaging instruction,
whether online or in person.
We will continue to
offer you multiple ways
to connect with your course instructors,
access academic support and get
to know your fellow students
throughout the semester.
On campus our community will
be following a new norm,
wearing face coverings,
physical distancing,
washing hands often, sanitizing
surfaces, and much more
to protect the health of
all members of Niner Nation.
I hope that you'll join me
in taking the Niners pledge,
which states, being a
member of Niner Nation
means that each of us must
take extraordinary steps
to stay well and persistently
protect each other
on campus and in the community.
Acknowledging we will only
be successful together,
I pledge to take responsibility
for my own health,
help to protect the health of other Niners
and to help keep Niner Nation safe
from the spread of
COVID-19 on and off campus.
As I begin my time here at UNC Charlotte,
I also pledge to you that
I'll do everything in my power
to lead responsibly through
these uncertain times,
to support and strengthen
our academic enterprise,
to ensure a great college
experience for our students
and to prioritize the safety
and wellbeing of our students,
faculty and staff.
I'm also committed to
evaluating our systems,
policies and practices to
ensure that our university
is fostering an inclusive environment,
that's free from systemic racist barriers.
UNC Charlotte celebrates
and strives to maximize
the rich diversity of our student body.
To create an inclusive
and welcoming environment,
I encourage you as the
student body to show up,
speak out and advocate
for the rights of all.
Success is going to require
that each and every one of us do our part.
I have confidence that you
the incoming class of 2020
are capable and resilient students
who will be able to not only
persevere, but grow and thrive.
I can't wait to see what
each of you will accomplish.
Again,
my sincere congratulations on
beginning your journey here.
Make the most of it.
And now we can say this together,
go Niners.
♪
- Hi.
I'm dr. Cheryl L Brown,
chair of the department
of political science
and public administration.
Greetings to you from us.
We welcome you to UNC Charlotte.
- Hi, I'm Lauren Black John
with the university center
for academic excellence.
Welcome to Niner Nation.
We're excited to have you.
I know it's hard to start school
on the online hybrid format,
but the university center
for academic excellence
is here to support you.
We encourage you to reach out
and we can help you stay on track
with your courses this semester.
- So hello everybody, and
welcome to UNC Charlotte.
My name is Andrew Harver.
I'm a professor in the department
of public health sciences.
Given the turbulence of the times,
we're all gonna be met
with new challenges, right?
It's gonna take a little bit
more discipline than usual.
It's gonna take a little bit of commitment
to a common shared purpose.
And importantly, we're
gonna need to respect
the health and safety and wellbeing
of the entire campus community.
(Susana speaks in foreign language)
- Welcome to UNC Charlotte new freshmans.
My name is Susana Cisneros.
I teach Spanish in the
language and culture studies.
You will see many of us around campus
and we will love to hear from you.
- Hello, y name is dr. Doug Hague
and I'm the head of the
school of data science.
This is a very strange year
and we're all going to be
doing our best to get through
the school year and the
classrooms and understanding
and the best thing I can recommend to you,
is make sure you interact
with your faculty member,
whether they're remote and online,
or whether they're actually face to face,
but interact with those faculty members
is the best way to make
your experience great.
- Hi everyone.
This is professor Tianran Liu of Chinese,
from the of languages
and cultural studies.
Welcome to UNC Charlotte.
- Hi, my name is dr. Nico
from the office of undergraduate research.
I want to say welcome to
you incoming freshmen.
- Hi,
I'm Shawnee Wakeman from the
Cato College of Education
and alumni of UNC Charlotte.
- And I'm Emma Wakeman.
I'm an incoming freshmen
and this is my mom.
- And if I were going to
give my daughter some advice,
I would say, "Please go to class on time
and call your mom because
she misses you very much."
♪
- Good afternoon Niner Nation.
My name is dr. Polar.
I'm a professor in the
department of chemistry,
and I'm here to welcome
you to UNC Charlotte.
I wanted you to know
that the faculty, staff and
administrators at UNC Charlotte
have been planning very
hard for many months
to ensure you're safe
arrival to UNC Charlotte.
This semester is going to
be a little bit different
than a normal semester.
And many of you have already experienced
some online teaching.
Whether you're face to
face or online or hybrid,
it's going to be a great
experience for you.
We're really looking forward to seeing you
and seeing what you can do this semester.
(soft music)
Some of you know exactly
what you want to do.
Some of you already know that
you want to go to med school
or you want to be an engineer.
You know exactly what you want to do.
You know your curriculum, you
know what you want to study.
Some of you don't even
know what your major is
and that's okay.
Discovery is the most important part
of your college experience.
It's okay to not know
where you want to be,
but walking the path and
finding your own way,
that is the true gift
of a college education.
Hey if you take an online class
and you're in the Zoom chat,
turn on your webcam,
get to know each other.
Look at the people around you,
work in small study groups.
When I was in...
you were in class,
I would ask my students and
send them off to breakout rooms.
Go talk about this amongst yourself.
Turn on your webcam.
Get to know another human.
I would ask you to go and work
on more complicated problem,
put you into groups of four and six,
spend five or 10 minutes, talk it out.
Find a way to find the solution yourselves
and just ask for help.
It's going to be different,
but it's going to be great.
Even though we're all online,
we're still together today as
one Niner Nation community.
We typically seeing her
Alma mater in person
at convocation and commencement.
So we'd like to teach it to you now.
Allow me to introduce you to
the university choral group,
singing the UNC Charlotte Alma mater,
go Niners.
♪ Hail University to
you we sing our praise ♪
♪ May Charlotte's light dispel the night ♪
♪ illumine all our days ♪
♪ In Carolina's crown the
brightest gem we see ♪
♪ Without your power our finest
hour would hold no victory ♪
♪ So let us love your life
and cherish your great name ♪
♪ To aid your cause ♪
♪ uphold your laws ♪
♪ and your enduring fame ♪
- Again, welcome to UNC Charlotte.
Together we will make
this the best year ever.
♪
