Convocation marks the beginning of a new academic year, a time of transition, reflection, and a milestone of celebration. Brought to fruition by the Convocation Committee, comprised of your colleagues, honoring the Van Sickle Endowed Lecture, Fall 2024 Convocation will be held on Friday, August 23rd beginning at 2:30pm in Cheel Arena. If you still would like to participate, but have not sent in your RSVP use this link. RSVP HERE[1]
Executive Summary:
2:00 PM Stage party and faculty robe in the 2nd level events office in Cheel
Students Meet with their RA and begin walking over to line up
2:15 PM Stage party, faculty and peer mentors line up at the zamboni entrance of the arena to cheer for incoming students. Students line up outside on the sidewalk by LLC, led by their RA
2:30 PM Student procession begins, led by bagpiper, followed by faculty and stage party
3:30 PM Exit arena, go to lobby to hand out class of 2028 shirts at arena entrances (time approximate)
4:00 PM End of event
4:00 PM Meet and greet with Ellen Petosa, in Cheel Commons (until 4:45pm)
If you need to order your regalia please visit https://facultydirect.herffjones.com/. Deadline for regalia to be ordered is July 29, 2024. All orders will ship directly to you. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Evan Hitchman at ehitchma@clarkson.edu and he would be happy to help you.
Please note if you need regalia and have missed the deadline a limited number of Clarkson regalia are available to borrow. Please email mmulvenn@clarkson.edu no later than Noon on Wednesday, August 21st and include your height so that regalia may be set aside for you.
Procession Preparation – All procession participants are to wear full academic regalia or dress uniform (military personnel).
If you need supplies (Static Guard, bobby pins, etc.), these items plus a full-length mirror, will be placed in our Cheel Robing room located on the 2nd floor (Cheel 221).
Once you are dressed in your regalia, meet on the sidewalk outside of the Zamboni entrance (Back of Cheel) no later than 2:30 p.m. You will be lining up in a self-organized fashion (rather than by academic rank).
Procession Procedures
At 4:00 p.m., an announcement will be made that the procession is beginning. Students will process through the two faculty lines by LLC, with their banners being displayed by each group. You should be clapping and cheering in the student body with their Peer Educators and the Pep Band while they process.
At the conclusion of the student procession, you will be led out onto the arena floor. The procession will consist of the Color Guard followed by the Grand Marshal then the faculty followed by the Clarkson Leadership Council and stage party with President Heacock in the last position and Provost Robinson immediately in front of President Heacock.
The procession will proceed up towards the stage from the back of the seating to the front corner of seats (stage left) where the faculty will start filling the seats and the stage party will continue on to the stage. Once everyone is in their place, the audience will be asked to rise for the Land Acknowledgement and the National Anthem. The Color Guard will present the colors (flags) and the National Anthem will be played.
Recessional Procedures
At the end of the ceremony, the Clarkson University Alma Mater will be played. The procession participants will then be asked to rise for the recessional. The Grand Marshal will lead the stage party towards the Zamboni door while music is played. Once the last stage party member passes the faculty area, the first faculty member in the first row of that section will lead the faculty out of the arena row by row. Once faculty have exited the seating area, Pep Band will play for about 5-7 minutes for faculty handing out shirts to make their way to the lobby. Faculty who are not handing out shirts are encouraged to help direct students up through the stands to the exits.
We look forward to seeing you as we welcome the newest members of the Clarkson Community.