Convocation starts school year
By Rachel Schwartz
The Santa Clara community celebrated its second annual convocation Monday with abbreviated classes and a speech from basketball star Steve Nash.
Most classes were shortened to 25 minutes so that students and faculty could attend the new annual events.
Mass of the Holy Spirit began at noon, followed by a community lunch on Bellomy Field. University convocation and individual department receptions were held during the afternoon.
The events were designed to highlight Santa Clara community pride and achievements, university officials said.
Monday's programs cost approximately $85,000, according to Jeanne Rosenberger, vice provost for student life and dean of students. Funds were drawn from the First Year Programs budget.
There were an estimated 4,200 people at the lunch and 4,000 people in attendance at convocation. This was an increase in attendance from last year for both events. Just under 1,000 students attended the Ben Lee concert.
Students, staff, and faculty gathered in the Leavey Center to listen to University President Paul Locatelli, S.J., commend university achievements from the past year.
Santa Clara is ranked among the top five schools in the nation for its freshman retention rate, of over 90 percent, Locatelli said. He also said it is ranked second in the west among comprehensive universities.
In addition to noting these recognitions that the university has received in recent publications, Locatelli announced that the university had surpassed its fundraising goal of $350 million. This puts the school ahead of schedule, for the Campaign for Santa Clara.
He also spoke about the continuing construction for the new library. "We have to fill that hole out there," he said.
Locatelli's speech stressed engaged citizenship as an important characteristic of learning.
He cited polls that stated most college students believe the country is headed in the wrong direction and encouraged students to participate in all aspects of the university and Santa Clara community.
"I encourage you to study, to debate the issues, to pay attention to the current events and to take the time to inform yourselves so you can vote wisely," Locatelli said. "I urge you to be an intelligent, engaged citizen who understand the principles of democracy."
Keynote speaker Steve Nash followed Locatelli. Nash, a point guard for the Phoenix Suns and two-time MVP winner for the NBA, graduated in 1996. Students welcomed him with a standing ovation.
"I had no idea how influential my four years here would be," Nash said. He thanked his coaches and teammates at Santa Clara for their support, crediting them with his success on and off the basketball court.
Nash said he had not prepared a speech and that he went to The Hut, a local bar on Sunday night. "I'm a little bit nervous so bear with me; and I also spent some time at The Hut yesterday so I'm a little tired and a little dehydrated," he said.
Senior Julie Gabelein said Hut patrons were excited that a famous alumnus had come back to drink at the neighborhood bar and that Nash was friendly and outgoing.
"He seemed really nice; he was introducing himself to everyone in the room," Gabelein said. "He just said, 'Hey, I'm Steve.' If you didn't follow sports, you would have assumed that he was just a nice guy introducing himself."
Nash encouraged students to practice selflessness and to get involved in student activities.
"Be balanced," Nash said. "Do as well as you can in school and make as many friends as possible."
Nash closed by saying he believed that Santa Clara was taking over the world.
"Everywhere you go, someone from Santa Clara is doing something special," Nash said.
For attending convocation, students received tickets for a concert by Australian pop artist Ben Lee in Leavey Center that night.
Two tickets were for sale for the show on Craigslist, a popular community Web site, for $10, shortly after convocation ended. The seller could not be reached for comment.
Contact Rachel Schwartz at (408) 554-4852 or rschwartz@scu.edu.