ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – New President Edward Serna ’02 will preside over the Aug. 22 Convocation ceremony for new students, which will officially start the 137th academic year at Winthrop University.
The 11 a.m. ceremony will move back to the main campus in the West Center after being held for three years at the Winthrop Coliseum.
A Winthrop tradition, the ceremony is a way to welcome new and transfer students to the historic campus and into the Winthrop community of learners. The event will include welcome messages from university and community leaders.
This will be the first opportunity for most students to meet Serna, who started work on July 1. He previously was president at the University of Maine at Farmington. As a non-traditional student during his time at Winthrop, Serna has noted that he did not attend Convocation, so he is very excited about attending for the first time along with the university’s newest students.
Serna has said that his positive student experience at Winthrop prompted him to change careers from business to public higher education. The opportunity to return home and lead the university is a full-circle moment that he relishes.
Immediately following the Convocation ceremony, Serna and First Lady Lauren Serna will lead students out of the West Center and toward the campus front lawn in the traditional Blue Line procession. The group walk dates back to the tenure of founding President David Bancroft Johnson. New students will wear their Blue Line T-shirt for the occasion.
A BBQ lunch will take place on the lawn in front of Margaret Nance Hall, beginning at 11:45 a.m. Campus ministries, local churches and civic organizations will have tables on the front lawn in order to provide information about opportunities to get involved in the community.
Fall classes will begin at 5 p.m. on Aug. 22.
For more information about Convocation, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2404 or e-mail her at longshawj@winthrop.edu.
