Convocation 2025
Beloit College marked the formal start of the new academic year, welcoming a new cohort of students, the class of 2029 and new transfer students, the first day of classes Monday, Aug. 25.
Credit: Nicholas Mischler ’14
T-shirts, regalia, and flags fluttered in a welcome breeze at Convocation. Passing through glass doors, the new students paused to look up at banners proclaiming major areas of study that stretched skyward up the columns of The Sanger Center for the Sciences as if connecting them to the gathered faculty and staff. Each person in attendance was a thread, a color, blending together for the first time as Buccaneers.
This fall, 300 new students arrived on campus, the largest group since before the pandemic. “Great to have you!” College President Eric Boynton welcomed them, before offering a few details about the incoming group – the most common birthday (January 19), the shortest distance traveled (0.4 miles) and the longest (9,600 miles). He looked out across the audience and encouraged students to do the same, to get to know each other, and the place they would make uniquely theirs.
The other convocation speakers continued the ceremony by delivering their own personal welcomes.
“You belong here,” Rachel Bergstrom, Associate Professor of Biology and Director of the School of Health Sciences, told the students.
“You belong, so be there.” Beloit City Manager Jerry Gabrielatos encouraged them to “find your own way to belong to the city.”
“Don’t hesitate to reach out,” advised Frank Hooton, President of Student Government. He thanked the new students for choosing Beloit College, for their individuality, diversity, and all they would bring to a unified Buccaneer spirit during their time on campus and beyond.
At the end of the ceremony, Provost and Dean of the College Donna Oliver ushered the students through the doors together toward the next opportunity. Glimmering through the trees, the shifted afternoon light reflected in Beloit’s blue and gold hues. Individual threads of faculty, staff, and other students descending from the balcony were soon indistinguishable, part of reformed patterns as each chose their own path towards a picnic on Chapin Quad.
