College of liberal arts hosts its first ever convocation
By Lena Zhu | Published by Oct. 3, 2018
Many students streaming into the event. Photos by Lena Zhu.
The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) hosted its first ever CLA Convocation on Sept. 18, 2018. Students of all majors within the College of Liberal Arts were encouraged to come to the event.
“Liberal Arts is what makes someone an educated person.” said Dr. Dawood Farahi, the president of Kean University. “You can study biology, you can learn chemistry, you can learn all of those different things but liberal arts is the foundation that makes you an educated person.”
This was one of the many reasons why the convocation was first created.
The event was meant to “provide an inspirational start to the new academic year for faculty and students,” according to the program handed out before the event occurred.
“How many of you want to go to China?” Farahi asked the audience. Some of the students raised their hands as Farahi continued. “If you have the grade, you can go to China for a semester or a year and the Sobo Foundation will pay your roundtrip ticket — which is $1500 — plus $500 to see the Great Wall of China. No other public university in American can make that claim.”
This message resonated especially with Jeilyn Molina, a freshman studying Psychology. Although she felt forced to go to the convocation, she was inspired by the speeches given.
“It was very inspiring for me to hear about [studying abroad in] China because I love traveling. I haven’t traveled, yet. It gives me motivation [to get good grades],” Molina said.
Speaker Terrance Hayes reading one of his poems from his book, “My Past and Future Assassin.” Photos by Lena Zhu.
Dr. Jonathan Mercantini, the Acting Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, began the convocation with a speech about making the most out of college and taking advantage of all of what higher education has to offer.
“History is made by those who show up, it’s vital just not to go to class, but to engage with your classmates and engage with your professors,” said Mercantini. “Higher education is not a luxury, it is a necessity. By being here today, you all are recognizing the importance of that.”
This quote struck a chord with Karen Kwaasi, a junior studying public relations.
“I believe in the last decade, based on the economy and availability of jobs, higher education has shifted from being a luxury to being a necessity,” said Kwaasi. “More people are in school, so a high school diploma does not hold as much weight, which forces people to seek higher education. They have to put themselves ahead so they can stand out when applying for jobs.”
Although some people left after Farahi’s speech, Dr. Terrance Hayes, an American poet, MacArthur Genius grant recipient, and winner of the National Book Award for his 2010 collection of poems titled “Lighthead” wowed the students with several readings of his recent work, “My Past and Future Assassin”, which received numerous praises by the audience.
Hayes resonated with many of the students through his work and colloquialism. He spoke in a manner that was very common to students, who found him to be very relatable.
Stage at Wilkins Theater before the event. Photos by Lena Zhu.
“I believe that every student was able to relate to [Hayes’] poems, even though there was a lot of profanity,” said Taylor Rowland, a junior studying communication. “He talked about Black Lives Matter and sex. It was really intense!”
After Hayes, Jianna Pisa, a junior Psychology major who participated in Dean for a Day and helped create the convocation, thanked Mercantini, the staff and faculty involved in making the event happen and explained how the idea of the program came to be.
“We wanted to bridge the gap between students and faculty to help them find their paths to success,” Pisa said. “That’s how we came up with the second half of this event. Here, you can talk to each other about your goals and how to achieve them. You can ask questions to your faculty or your professors and ask them how they got to where they are today. Just have a normal conversation with them. Get to know them. It’s very important.”
The first ever College of Liberal Arts convocation at Kean seemed to be a success. Many students were able to talk to professors and fellow students about their goals, making others to feel not so alone.
“The convocation made me feel good because there were lots of students there that I could generally relate to in terms of trying to find a job after college since that’s everyone’s fear,” Rowland said. “I was glad to see that I wasn’t the only one nervous about getting a job after college.”
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