Attorney Willie E. Gary, Chairman of the Board of Trustees took center stage in the Spaulding Gymnasium on Sept 24th as this year’s speaker for Shaw University’s 2009-2010 Fall Convocation.
Convocation is a ceremony where members of a college or university community assemble. Fall Convocation is one of four formal programs that the university has throughout the year, held to officially mark the beginning of the new academic year.
“I wanted the message to be that in spite of the obstacles, in spite of all the bumps and curves in the road of life, if you have a burning desire to be somebody, nobody can stop you,” said Gary.
According to Ayesha Givens, Executive assistant to the vice president of academic affairs and coordinator of the 2009-2010 Fall Convocation, Gary was chosen by Interim President Dorothy Cowser Yancy to give motivation to students from the perspective of a successful Shaw alumnus.
According to Dr. Quincy Scott Jr., Dean of the Thomas J Boyd Chapel, Sept. 24th marked the university’s 144th convocation ceremony.
According to Givens, there were approximately 600 people at the ceremony including some faculty dressed in robes and sashes as well as freshmen dressed in their cases attire.
“I think convocation was decent this year, it was a lot shorter, but it’s always been kind of pointless and boring to me,” said Senior Biology major Danielle Whiskey.
The speakers at convocation ranged from Emily Perry, President of Shaw’s National Alumni Association to Senior Psychology major and President of Shaw’s Student Government Association, Terrion Hicks. “Convocation overall was great I learned a lot, I heard a lot of people who were influential speak to me this morning. They said a lot of things to just motivate and charge me as well as the freshman class of 2013,” said Hicks.