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On Friday, August 16, members of the ����ֱ�� community gathered in Kulas Auditorium to welcome and celebrate the Class of 2028.

Over 600 first-year students were greeted by Vice President for Academic Affairs, Bonnie Gunzenhauser, Ph.D., who introduced the ceremony as an opportunity for the newest members of the university to pause and reflect.

“You’ve had quite a week, met tons of new people, and have pretty much been constantly on the go,” Gunzenhauser said. “It’s time to take a breath, step back, reflect, and dream about your next four years at ����ֱ��.”

She emphasized that college is a time of discovery, reassuring students that the faculty is committed to supporting them every step of the way on their journey to find their people, place, and purpose.

Following Gunzenhauser, ����ֱ��’s President, Alan Miciak, Ph.D., spoke about the abundant opportunities across campus and how the incoming class is joining a strong educational tradition, one that has empowered generations to lead active, meaningful lives.

“A Jesuit liberal arts education aims to enable people of all faiths to become contemplatives in action,” Miciak said. “In other words, to enable our active life to feed our contemplative life, and for our contemplative life to inform our active life.”

Miciak assured the Class of 2028 that each member belongs at ����ֱ��, and they should not allow their differences to separate them or to create division. Instead, he invited students to learn from these differences as a way to expand their perspectives. 

“Let’s resist the urge to drink blindly from the fountain of binary thinking, prejudice, and hate,” Miciak said. “Let’s embrace and learn from our differences, and count them among our greatest blessings.”

This message aligned with the values highlighted in the PBS documentary, American Creed, a film that the entire Class of 2028 watched and discussed as a way to explore the importance of dialogue.

This shared experience inspired ����ֱ�� to invite Eric Liu, author and CEO of Citizen University, as the keynote speaker for the convocation. Liu, who co-produced American Creed and is prominently featured in the film, delivered an inspiring speech following Miciak’s remarks, emphasizing the exciting responsibility the new class holds in giving meaning to 'JCU ’28.'

“Each time you say it, it is infused with spirit. You start to own it and claim – those letters and numbers will mean something for you the rest of your lives,” Liu said. “A creed is just a bunch of words – just like JCU ’28 – it doesn’t mean anything until we invest it with meaning.”

Liu concluded by asking students to turn around, and without speaking, look at the classmate sitting behind them.

“You see each other, you see yourself reflected in someone’s eyes. Keep that habit up, keep seeing each other, keep facing each other, and keep asking, ’What am I called to do?’”

As the ceremony came to a close, students stood shoulder to shoulder and the auditorium echoed with a joyous rendition of ����ֱ��’s alma mater, followed by a final reflection on the famous quote often attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola: ‘Go forth and set the world on fire.'

To symbolize this, each student, holding a blue or white electronic candle, illuminated their lights to form a radiant constellation.