11:10 a.m., Sept. 1, 2009----The 3,800 members of the Class of 2013 were welcomed to the University of Delaware in ways both formal and fun during New Student Convocation, held Monday, Aug. 31, at the Bob Carpenter Center.

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The award-winning UD Chorale opened the ceremonies with inspired versions of The Star-Spangled Banner and The Usuli Boat Song, which featured soloist Steven Carroll, a senior music education major.

Provost Tom Apple welcomed members of the freshman class and congratulated them on becoming part of the University of Delaware community.

“You're a remarkable group, you have remarkable talents and a great deal of energy and intellect, and we're delighted to welcome you as the Class of 2013 and as the newest members of the University of Delaware student body,” Apple said.

As a graduate of the University of Delaware, having received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1982, Apple went on to say how UD transformed him and how his goal for the class is “to make sure that you are transformed here by your experience at the University of Delaware.”

UD President Patrick Harker told the class that “today is the beginning of something great. Life doesn't offer many moments like this -- times of such clear and profound transition, or, as your provost might say, transformation.”

Harker said class members are starting on a journey that they can make into anything that they want. “The destination is up to you, not your parents or your professors, and if you're sure you know where you're going, you might surprise yourself.”

Harker used his own experience as an example, noting that he didn't go to college planning to become a college president. As a defensive tackle on the University of Pennsylvania football team, Harker said he thought “football was my future, but I took advantage of some extraordinary chances that came my way and some extraordinary people that came my way and, over time, my path revealed itself.”

“It's okay that plans change and detours take you where you didn't think you were going to go,” Harker added. “I've found, actually, that life is the detours, and I wouldn't change a thing.”

As the largest freshman class in University of Delaware history, the Class of 2013 is full of individual talents, Harker noted, saying, “your individual accomplishments are remarkable” and “we invited you here for a reason, but today individual accomplishment joins collective potential because today you are part of a class of 3,800, today you become part of a worldwide family of Blue Hens, 140,000 strong.”

Michael Gilbert, vice president for student life, recommended that students acquaint themselves with "their University" and that they welcome the opinions and beliefs of others. “I must warn you, the University of Delaware does not operate like reality TV. We won't be voting people off the island or out of the house this year. Here at the University of Delaware, civility, understanding and mutual respect are key to making the most of this diversity.”

David Tusio, president of the UD Student Government Association, told students that UD is “a great place to grow as an individual” but stressed to the new class that “college is a time to be free from your parents, however, it is not the time to be liberated from your responsibilities.”

Tusio said “success is a journey, not a destination -- create your own story, we all have different ones, and that's a good thing.”

Following the introduction of the deans of the seven colleges and the heads of the Associate in Arts Program and University Studies, the UD Chorale concluded the formal part of the program by singing the alma mater.

The second part of the program kicked off with a high-energy performance by Delaware Kamaal, an on-campus competitive Indian fusion dance team. The UD cheerleaders, dance team and mascots YoUDee, Air YoUDee and Baby Blue kept things moving before the introduction of the UD fall, spring and winter sports coaching staffs and athletes.

Head Coach K.C. Keeler asked the crowd if they were ready for some Blue Hen football. “Welcome to one of the great football traditions in America,” Keeler said. “One-hundred nineteen years of Delaware football, six national championships, and I am the fourth head football coach in the last 70 years. The three previous gentlemen are in the College Football Hall of Fame and all four of us have won national championships, something that's never been done at any level of college football.”

Keeler, himself a former UD football player, added, “One of our great traditions here is our student section, and we need you out there, Friday night, 7 p.m., against West Chester. Go Blue Hens.”

The cheerleaders then came back out to do another routine, one that included a tribute to Michael Jackson with all of them lining up and doing the Thriller dance, before the UD Marching Band performed a rocking rendition of Green Day's Holiday, the lyrics to which include, appropriately, “This is the dawning of the rest of our lives.”

Article by Adam Thomas
Photos by Ambre Alexander and Evan Krape