President Eric F. Spina offered this welcome to UD's incoming class during new student convocation Aug. 22.
Good morning, you beautiful Flyers!
Welcome to the University of Dayton — your University of Dayton.
New Flyers, before I address you, I want you to look around at — or think about — the people who helped you get here: parents, grandparents, guardians, family members, teachers, coaches, friends — the people who believed in you, encouraged you, occasionally pushed you, and loved you to this moment.
Please join me in thanking them with a round of applause. …
And to the parents, families, and champions here today: I know this is a day filled with emotion. There is enormous pride and excitement — and probably some nervousness, too.
So, I want to make you a promise: We will challenge your loved one and expect a great deal from them. That's what a university should do.
BUT … they will not make this journey alone.
We will know them and care about them and support them. We will notice when they are thriving — and when they are struggling. They are joining a community of faculty, staff, Marianists, advisors, coaches, mentors, and fellow students who take seriously our responsibility to educate and care for the whole person.
Students, other speakers this morning will tell you more about the academic experience you are beginning and about the distinctive community you are joining. I want to give you just one piece of advice as someone starting his 39th year in higher education:
Let yourself be changed — for the better.
You have worked very hard to get here, and you probably have some idea of where you think the next four years are going to take you. Some of you know what you want to major in, what career you want to pursue, maybe even what you think your life will look like 10 years from now.
That's wonderful.
But I ask you to hold those plans just a little loosely.
Because I have spent most of my adult life on college campuses, I can tell you this: Some of the most important things that will happen to you at Dayton are things you don't yet know to hope for.
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You may take a class simply because it fits your schedule and discover a subject that fascinates you.
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A professor may challenge something you have believed your entire life — and make you think about it differently.
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You may become friends with someone whose life experience is completely different from yours.
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You may discover that you are really good at something you had never before tried.
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You may also discover that you're not very good at something you thought you were — and, believe it or not, that can be an important part of your education, too!
And somewhere along the way, the plans you brought with you may change.
Let them.
That doesn't mean drifting through college without purpose. Quite the opposite. Work hard. Go to class. Get to know your professors. Try things. Ask questions. Take some risks. And please, ask for help when you need it.
But don't spend these four years simply accumulating credits, experiences, accomplishments, and lines on a résumé.
Pay attention to the person you are becoming. This is the beauty of being at a Catholic and Marianist university where holistic education is our defining mission, developing the whole person in mind, body and spirit.
Part of your growth will come from the people around you.
You are entering a community of people with different backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, identities, and ways of seeing the world. Some will see things very differently from you. That's not something to fear or avoid; it's part of your education.
Listen to them. Learn from them. Share with them. Allow yourselves to challenge one another. And even when you disagree — perhaps especially when you disagree — recognize and respect their human dignity.
That is something we expect of one another at the University of Dayton. It comes directly from who we are as a Catholic and Marianist university and from our belief that every person is created in the image and likeness of God.
Parents and families, when you see these young people again at Family Weekend or Thanksgiving, they may already be a little different. Four years from now, I hope they are changed.
Not because they have become someone other than the person you sent us today.
But because they have become more fully themselves — more knowledgeable, certainly, but also more confident and more curious; more capable of listening to others; more willing to serve; more prepared to lead; and more deeply aware of the gifts they possess and how they might use those gifts in service to others.
Students, you don't have to know today exactly who that person will be.
That's one of the great adventures you are beginning.
What I can promise is that there are people all across this campus who will walk alongside you as you discover it.
I am so very glad that you are here, and I ask God to bless you and the journey you begin today.
Welcome home, Flyers!