New Student Convocation
The 2014 Convocation ceremony will be held:
Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014 at 10 a.m.
Tsongas Center
Directly following Convocation, all students are invited to the annual Club Fair outside the Tsongas Center. More than 200 student organizations will be represented, a free BBQ will be provided by University Dining Services, with music by JAM'N 94.5.
About Convocation
This event is the formal welcome for all students entering into the UMass Lowell academic community. It serves as the ceremonial start for our new students, just as Commencement serves as the ceremonial finish for our seniors. This required freshmen event is the highlight of Opening Week and the official launch of the academic year.
Convocation is an opportunity to meet fellow students and faculty as well as hear from Chancellor Marty Meehan, the College Deans and a special guest speaker.
2013 Keynote Speaker: Waneek Horn-Miller
Young, frank and hopeful, Waneek Horn-Miller has overcome discrimination, self-doubt, and an infamous incident of violence to emerge alone as one of North America's most inspiring Native speakers. With purpose and poise, she traverses the intersection of two generations of Native people, working to mend - finally - the dysfunctional relationship between Native and non-Native communities through social and political change.
Waneek Horn-Miller, a Mohawk from the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory near Montreal, was behind the lines during the Oka crisis, in 1990, when she was stabbed by a Canadian soldier's bayonet. This near-death experience marked a turning point in her life. Instead of recoiling, she came back stronger than ever. In 2000, she appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, for her role as co-captain of Canada's Olympic women's water polo team. More recently, Horn-Miller has worked to attract Aboriginal youth to higher education by building self-esteem and emphasizing a balance between education and sports.
Horn-Miller teamed up with the Aboriginal Peoples' Television Network and health experts to launch a fitness and healthy-eating initiative called Working It Out Together, which follows six Mohawks on their pursuit to better health. She is the coordinator of the First People's House at McGill University.
Horn-Miller inspires audiences to follow their own dreams, fight for and develop their own legacy and achieve their full potential in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.