By Steven Krolak
(NEW ALBANY, Ind.)—Incoming students, along with their families and friends, gathered in the IU Southeast Activities Center on Friday, August 17 for the traditional Induction Day ceremony.
Induction is the beginning of the student journey that will culminate in graduation.
Helped along by staff and student volunteers, as well as members of Greek organizations and Crimson Crew, the ceremony was a fun and festive occasion mixing academic gravitas with selfies and several successful attempts at The Wave.
After a hearty welcome from Chancellor Dr. Ray Wallace, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Uric Dufrene led off the ceremony.
Dufrene introduced the class to the IU Southeast community, a class that ranges in age from 17 to 65 and includes individuals from nine states and 13 countries. Fully 35% of the class identify as first-generation college students. The majority are women.
Dufrene encouraged the students to think of their education as a partnership between the institution and themselves.
“We are here to provide an environment that both challenges you and supports you, and that gives you opportunities to grow personally and professionally,” Dufrene said. “Your role is to challenge yourself, your classmates and yes, even your faculty members to high standards of academic achievement.”
Keynote speaker was Candyce Clyfft, journalist and news anchor at WDRB in Louisville, Ky.
Clyfft enthusiastically recalled her own collegiate life as a time of exploration and discovery, but also a time during which she confronted and overcame challenges on her way to becoming a responsible adult and professional.
She encouraged students to see the next four years as the beginning of their professional lives, to take advantage of networking and internship opportunities that will help them become employable, self-sufficient adults.
“Explore your passion,” Clyfft said. “And rely on the expertise of your professors and advisers to help you find ways to put it to work in a career.”
Representing the student body was Cassy Goodridge, a junior from Floyds Knobs, Ind. majoring in nursing.
Goodridge, a 2016 Adam W. Herbert Presidential Scholar and co-vice president of the Student Nurses Association, shared practical wisdom about college life from her own experience.
Alumni Board Chairman Josh Kornberg led the assembly in a recitation of the IU Southeast affirmation and a brief pinning ceremony.
In closing, Chancellor Wallace encouraged the incoming students to make the most of the opportunity to learn at IU Southeast.
“Your experience on this fine campus . . . will change your life,” Wallace said. “From here, with hard work, you can become anyone you want to be.”
Following the ceremony, students walked to the University Center for the student involvement fair, passing through the trademark IU Southeast high-five line where faculty and staff extended a warm Grenadier welcome.
Homepage photo: The high-five line is a tradition at IU Southeast.