Approximately 1,900 Marshall University freshmen, escorted by MU police and President Jerome Gilbert, will walk in one large group via Fourth Avenue from the Huntington campus to the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center Friday morning, Aug. 19, for the annual President’s Freshman Convocation.
The purpose of the convocation is to formally celebrate the class’s official start as the class of 2020. Fall classes begin Monday, Aug. 22.
“I’m really looking forward to the start of the fall semester,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert said in a way he feels like one of the freshmen because nearly everything is new to him just as it is to the students. This is his first experience with WOW (Week of Welcome) and all the activities associated with it, including the convocation. He has been MU’s president since January.
A slide show featuring photographs of students displaying their goals for the first year will be shown during convocation.
“I am looking forward to meeting and greeting as many of the freshmen as possible during our walk to the Keith Albee,” Gilbert said, “just to see why they chose Marshall University and to learn more about them – like, where they are from and how they heard about Marshall. And, to tell them how proud I am of them and to let them know we’re here to help them.”
Students will depart the Huntington campus and head to the Keith Albee at about 9:30 a.m., after the class picture is taken around the John Marshall circle. The convocation gets under way at 10 a.m.
The convocation is expected to last an hour. It will be livestreamed at www.marshall.edu/it/livestream.
Photo: Students come to the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center for the 2015 convocation.