{"id":126022,"date":"2020-08-21T10:36:02","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T16:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=126022"},"modified":"2020-08-21T21:32:58","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T03:32:58","slug":"convocation-welcomes-new-students-into-mountain-lion-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=126022","title":{"rendered":"Convocation welcomes new students into Mountain Lion Family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube aligncenter wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"740\" height=\"417\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IMKsG5j2at0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;start=221&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chancellor Venkat Reddy, Provost Tom Christensen and Student Government Association President Aidan Meadows celebrated more than 1850 members of the first-year class at the annual convocation ceremony, which marks the official beginning of students\u2019 undergraduate careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New this year, students tuned into the virtual ceremonies from their Gateway Program Seminar classes, split between Aug. 20 and 21. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Today, you officially begin your UCCS career,&#8221; Provost Christensen told students. &#8220;It may look a little different than you expected. But today remains a momentous day.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his remarks, Chancellor Reddy shared memories of the start of\nhis own academic journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI know this school year looks different than what you were hoping\nfor,\u201d Reddy told students. \u201cWe\u2019ve never had a year like this one. Our\nfirst-year students have never had to wear face coverings while getting to know\neach other, or socially distance during orientation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.52.06-PM.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"162\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.52.06-PM-300x162.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-126026\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.52.06-PM-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.52.06-PM-750x406.png 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.52.06-PM-1536x831.png 1536w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.52.06-PM.png 1859w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Chancellor Reddy formally welcomed first-year students to the starts of their academic journeys at UCCS.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is a great deal of uncertainty in all of our lives. The\nCOVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live and learn. But I commend you for\nyour resilience in showing up for yourself and your future regardless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reddy also asked students to remember what brought them to UCCS in\nthe first place: their hopes for the future. He directed students to write down\ntheir goals and aspirations on a virtual dream board \u2013 whether they are\nserious, silly or a mixture of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Above all, the Chancellor encouraged students to intentionally\ncreate community with their peers and support systems at UCCS. As he reflected\non the start of his own academic journey, which took him from India to the\nUnited States in pursuit of higher education, Reddy shared that he sees himself\nin each of UCCS\u2019 first-year students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI did not succeed in earning my master\u2019s&nbsp;degree, or my\ndoctorate degree, at Penn State&nbsp;alone,\u201d&nbsp;Reddy said. \u201cI leaned on my\nfamily.&nbsp;I leaned on my friends. Their strength gave me strength, and that\nhelped me succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat I discovered then, and during this extraordinarily\nchallenging time, is that distance does not matter. We are capable of forming\nconnections despite it. And the connections we make with those around us are\nthe most important things in our life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, Reddy challenged students to do their part to Protect the\nPride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.56.06-PM.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"161\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.56.06-PM-300x161.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-126028\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.56.06-PM-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.56.06-PM-750x403.png 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.56.06-PM-1536x825.png 1536w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.56.06-PM.png 1875w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Student Government Association President Aidan Meadows recited the UCCS Student Creed.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI urge you to remember to be patient, kind and compassionate\ntowards yourself, as well as others,\u201d Reddy said. \u201cDo your part to Protect the\nPride. You have a responsibility not just to yourself, but to your university,\nto make sure that we can continue to offer on-campus experiences. It will take\nall of our efforts to prevail these unprecedented times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meadows concluded the ceremonies by reciting the UCCS Creed to\nstudents. The UCCS Creed embodies the collective values of UCCS students \u2013 purpose,\nrespect, integrity, determination and excellence \u2013 while promoting a positive\ncampus culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Chancellor Reddy spoke for all of campus in his closing remarks: \u201cTo the newest members of the UCCS community, congratulations \u00ad\u00ad\u2013 and welcome to the Mountain Lion Family!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Convocation marked a highlight of the welcome week for new students, Clyde\u2019s Kickoff. As the week wraps up on Saturday, Aug. 22, DisOrientation Week will officially begin, featuring an outdoor concert, arts and crafts, world famous \u201cdating doctor\u201d David Coleman and more. To learn more about these events and others,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mlc.uccs.edu\/events\">visit Mountain Lion Connect<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Chancellor Venkat Reddy, Provost Tom Christensen and SGA President Aidan Meadows welcomed more than 1850 new students at the annual convocation ceremony. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=126022\" title=\"Convocation welcomes new students into Mountain Lion Family\">(More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":126026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,49],"tags":[53,62,368,134,63],"class_list":["post-126022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-campus-announcements","tag-academic-affairs","tag-chancellors-office","tag-student-affairs","tag-student-government-association","tag-student-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-20-at-4.52.06-PM.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-wMC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126022"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134330,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126022\/revisions\/134330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/126026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}