Salve Regina holding Convocation ceremony Sept. 5
Six hundred incoming freshmen who are arriving in Newport from 21 different states and eight countries – including Bangladesh, Canada, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Japan, Nepal and the United Kingdom – will be officially welcomed to the city and into the Salve Regina community when the University celebrates Convocation Tuesday, Sept. 5.
The ceremony, which begins at 3 p.m. in the Convocation tent on the Wakehurst lawn, will feature a keynote address from William “Bill” Lucey, publisher of the Edward A. Sherman Publishing Company, which produces the Newport Daily News, Newport Mercury, Newport Life Magazine, South County Life Magazine, the South County Independent and NewportRI.com. Lucey will also receive an honorary degree during the festivities.
Newport Mayor Henry Winthrop will welcome students, and remarks will be presented by President Jane Gerety, RSM. The ceremony will also include the inauguration of Student Government Association officers.
New students will discover how the University will be applying its vision through community and civic engagement during their next four years. That vision strives to develop empathetic leaders who challenge themselves “to achieve academic excellence through disciplined development of skills and knowledge, and to cultivate the spirit of Mercy within – to see, care, and to act for the good of others.”
As part of its civic action plan, the University community has coordinated prioritization of the five critical concerns of the Sisters of Mercy (earth, immigration, women, racism and non-violence). During a four-year cycle, each year will focus on a different critical concern, with an underlying baseline of non-violence. For 2017-2018, the focus will be on race.
