First-Year Convocation

Friday, September 1 | 3:00pm

Note: Parents of first-year students are invited to join our First-Year Convocation in Shattuck Hall auditorium. We will also have virtual viewing opportunities in Shattuck Hall recital hall and in the Stackner Ballroom located on the second floor of the Campus Center.

Watch the livestream

What is a Convocation?

The noun convocation stems from the Latin word convocare, meaning "to call together," which combines the prefix com-, meaning "together," and vocare, meaning "to call." More specifically at Carroll, our academic community gathers to consider contemporary issues and enduring questions, to honor individual and collective achievement, and to celebrate shared vision and values. All full-time undergraduate students must attend two convocation events per academic year. At least one of those events each year must be a campus-wide event including; First-Year Convocation, Founder’s Day Convocation, Baccalaureate, Celebrate Carroll, or the Annual Waukesha UNAFF Traveling Film Festival.

What is the First-Year Convocation?

The First-Year Convocation is filled with symbolism, tradition, ceremony, and celebration. To begin the convocation, the first-year students are “called together” to take a symbolic walk across campus in graduation gowns. This will be the walk they repeat on the morning of their Commencement. Their journey thus begins just as it will conclude. They are led by a single bagpiper as a nod to our Scottish Presbyterian heritage. The procession of students ends at Shattuck Auditorium where they are officially welcomed into the Pioneer family by friends, family, faculty, the Provost and the President. As members of the students’ support systems, you’ve gotten them to this point. We are honored that you now entrust their next four years to us. This is a celebration you won’t want to miss.

First-Year Convocation Program

Processional
Opening of the Ceremony
Invocation and Land Acknowledgement
Address to the Class of 2027, President Cindy Gnadinger
The Carroll Student Experience, Student Senate President
Faculty Keynote Address
Benediction
Singing of the Carroll University Alma Mater
Closing of the Ceremony
Recessional

View the First-Year Convocation Program PDF