{"id":7646,"date":"2012-08-23T16:21:17","date_gmt":"2012-08-23T22:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=7646"},"modified":"2012-08-23T16:38:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-23T22:38:00","slug":"convocation-speeches-begin-new-academic-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=7646","title":{"rendered":"Convocation speeches begin new academic year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Andrea Herrera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Andrea Herrera, professor, Women\u2019s and Ethnic Studies, deviated from the traditional script for convocation speeches when she opened the academic year Aug. 15.<\/p>\n

In lieu of advice to carefully select a career or making the most of opportunities, Herrera talked about what she deemed as an urgent need for kindness, gratitude and beauty.<\/p>\n

Quoting from this year\u2019s all campus reads selection, \u201cThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,\u201d Herrera told the story of Lacks and the legacy of the HeLa cell line, cells taken from Lacks as she was dying from cancer. While the story raises many questions about medical and personal ethics as well as racism, sexism and inequality, Herrera focused her remarks elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Herrera focused on Lacks\u2019 legacy, virtual immortality as her cells led to scientific discoveries that led to improved treatment for ailments ranging from depression to high blood pressure.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Many students sat with their Freshman Seminar sections marked with brightly colored signs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe thought that Henrietta has indeed, though inadvertently, helped human kind in in immensely significant and unexpected way seems to be source of comfort for her family and friends,\u201d Herrera said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough I am acutely conscious of the affront to Henrietta, and to her family, this theme of helping others altruistically or selflessly without benefit and sometime at one\u2019s own expense is for me\u00a0the greatest Lesson that Henrietta Lacks is teaching us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herrera\u2019s remarks served as the official opening of the academic year. She was joined by members of a record-breaking freshman class, as well as a member of the CU Board of Regents, top campus administrators and faculty and staff in at-capacity Gallogly Events Center. Many students sat with their Freshman Seminar sections marked with brightly colored signs. After the speeches, students and families were treated to dinner on the University Center Upper Plaza.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Students and families enjoy to dinner on the University Center Upper Plaza.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his remarks, CU Board of Regent Kyle Hybl described UCCS as \u201ca place that wants you to succeed\u201d while Steve Collier, president, Student Government Association, used a camping metaphor in his comments directed at the freshmen.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeave UCCS better than you found it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video available<\/strong><\/p>\n

To see the full Convocation event, visit http:\/\/www.uccs.edu\/provost\/convocation.html<\/a>. The event was recorded by the Media Services Department.<\/p>\n

Library display<\/strong><\/p>\n

In connection with \u201cThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Jacks,\u201d the Kraemer Family Library has a display containing written information about Lacks and the legacy of the HeLa cell line from magazines and peer-reviewed journals dating to the 1970s. The display is on the third floor of the library. To see photos, visit http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/27640054@N08\/sets\/72157631182978838\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos by Philip Denman<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrea Herrera, professor, Women\u2019s and Ethnic Studies, deviated from the traditional script for convocation speeches when she opened the academic year Aug. 15. In lieu of advice to carefully select a career or making the (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20347,"comment_status":"open","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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/convo1-222x300.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-1Zk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7646","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7646"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7652,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7646\/revisions\/7652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}