First official class of Union Commonwealth University inducted Thursday

Rachel Dorroh • August 30, 2024
  • A group of six Union Commonwealth University students dressed in business-casual attire for Convocation stand shoulder-to-shoulder outside the Conway Boatman Chapel, smiling among a larger gathering of students, faculty, staff, and community members.

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  • Travis Hensley and Kassidy Koogler stand smiling together among a larger gathering of students, faculty, staff, and community members outside the Conway Boatman Chapel. A mix of casual and business-casual attire can be seen on all present.

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  • Three female Union Commonwealth University students are posing for a photo in the evening outside the Conway Boatman Chapel. They are standing one behind the other, all smiling and dressed in formal attire.

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  • Three female Union Commonwealth University students are posing for a photo in the evening outside the Conway Boatman Chapel. They are standing together, arms around each other, all smiling and dressed in formal attire.

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  • Two male Union Commonwealth University students wearing polo shirts stand pointing at the camera for a photo, outside the Conway Boatman Chapel, among a larger gathering of students, faculty, staff, and community members.

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  • James Becknell, Joshua Falls, and Coach Rodney Haddix stand together outside the Conway Boatman Chapel before Convocation, smiling and dressed in polo shirts. Joshua's shirt bares the Union logo with a pen clipped beneath it. A crowd is visible in the background.

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  • Three female Union Commonwealth University students are posing for a photo in the bright evening sunlight outside the Conway Boatman Chapel. They are standing together, arms around each other, all smiling and dressed in formal attire. The chapel parking lot filled with cars can be seen in the background.

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  • Interim President Dr. DJ Washington is high-fiving through a large crowd of students, faculty, staff, and community members outside the Conway Boatman Chapel before Convocation. A mix of casual and formal attire can be seen from everyone present.

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Interim President Dr. DJ Washington and Dr. Christine Marley-Frederick pose outside the Conway Boatman Chapel before Convocation. Marley-Frederick holds the wooden ceremonial mace over her shoulder. A crowd is visible in the background.

Students, faculty, staff, and community members filled Conway Boatman Chapel at Union Commonwealth University Thursday evening for the Fall Convocation and CIRCLES ceremony. The annual convocation kicks off the new semester and school year, and the CIRCLES ceremony, now in its 18th year, welcomes new students into the Union “family.” 


Since Union College transitioned to its new name last spring, the 2024-25 school year is the institution’s first as Union Commonwealth University (UCU). Thus, this year’s freshmen are the first official class of UCU. At 241 students, they are also the largest incoming class since 2020-2021, with freshman enrollment up 22% since last year.

 

The evening began with an invocation by Campus Minister the Rev. David Miller followed by welcoming remarks from Interim Provost David Powell. CIRCLES represents Union’s core values of celebration, integrity, responsibility, civility, learning, engagement, and spirituality, Powell explained. 


Interim President Dr. DJ Washington then addressed the class of 2028-2029: “This is where it starts. Make no mistake about it, you are here for a reason. You are here for a purpose,” he said. “You have caring faculty, you have generous staff, and you have amazing peers who are here to help you every step of the way. Take advantage.”


[PHOTO: Interim President Dr. DJ Washington poses outside the chapel, ahead of the event, with Dr. Christine Marley-Frederick, who was one of his professors when he was a student.]

Next, Washington introduced the keynote speaker, Assistant Professor of Math and Natural Sciences Libby Megna. He highlighted her passion for research, commitment to mentorship, and her advocacy for marginalized students. Megna received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Faculty Relations Committee last spring, she has supported multiple students to apply for and carry out research projects through the Appalachian Colleges Association, she is a member of Justice Leaders, and she serves as co-mentor of the IncludingU Club.


Megna’s address focused on two CIRCLES values – Learning and Engagement – which “are the same thing, not two separate entities,” she said. Highly influenced by the work of Paulo Freire, Megna treats students as “co-investigators” of real-world problems and “co-creators” of knowledge, she said, rather than passive “receivers of facts.”


“I believe that students should be able to tackle complex societal problems related to biology after completing my courses,” Megna said, referencing vaccines, cancer, and climate change. “We practice solving real world problems to become better citizens who can explain relative biological issues to others around us and inform voters for when politics confront biology.”

Libby Megna stands at a podium with a mounted microphone in front of the Conway Boatman Chapel delivering her Convocation address. She is wearing a formal black dress and holding what appears to be a copy of her address.

Megna said that while “we cannot compromise on the signs of evidence,” many complex factors such as ethical frameworks, life experience, and spirituality are part of decision-making, as well. “This is where learning becomes engagement,” she said, emphasizing that she does not pose or expect one correct answer to a problem and that she encourages students to consider how their perspectives would change if they came from a different place, time, or situation.


She concluded her talk by sharing her hopes and dreams for Union students: “I hope you will shape and reshape your knowledge in dialog with each other and with faculty.” She said she hopes students identify their personal values and priorities, care about others and the world they live in, and use their “unique culture and background to make the world a better place.” 


[PHOTO: Libby Megna delivers her convocation address.]


Megna’s dreams for students include that they use their passions and priorities for the common good, to make life better for others. “I dream these things not for your future, but for your now,” she said. “There are opportunities for you to engage in justice actions on campus right away.” Megna referenced the student organizations Black Student Union and IncludingU, which advocate for marginalized black and brown students and LGBTQ+ students, respectively.

“Learning IS engagement, and I am so excited to have you here to do both,” Megna said.

Rev. David Miller, Libby Megna, Dr. David Powell, Dr. DJ Washington, Ronnie Moore, Kassidy Koogler, and Travis Hensley stand side-to-side on the Conway Boatman Chapel's stage. They are all dressed in formal attire and holding various papers. Behind them, a collection of flags is mounted beside each person's chair.

After Megna’s speech, the audience pledged to support the student body and uphold the CIRCLES values. The pledges were led by Powell, Washington, City Councilman Ronnie Moore, and Student Ambassador Travis Hensley.


SGA President Kassidy Koogler then led the “Charge to the Class of 2028.” She asked the students, “Will you invest mind, heart, and spirit to strengthen these values within you so that they are reflected in all you do and readily apparent to all who come to know you?” The new students accepted.  


[PHOTO: From left to right, the Rev. David Miller, Libby Megna, Dr. David Powell. Dr. DJ Washington, Ronnie Moore, Kassidy Koogler, and Travis Hensley.]


Choral group Union Harmony, directed by Dr. Virginia Gay Gandy, sang Union’s alma mater, and Miller offered a final blessing and closing remarks: “At Union, academic pursuits are important, but it is you, the students, who are at the heart of our mission. We're here to support your intellectual, spiritual, and personal growth.” 


Then the crowd filed out of the chapel toward Centennial Hall while Dr. Yukiko Fujimura performed recessional piano music. Now dusk, Union faculty, staff, and returning students followed a luminary-lit path to line the outer circle of the drive. Freshmen were led along the front of campus, through the center of brick-lined Legacy Walk, and then to the inner circle. 


Washington led the ceremony from a podium in front of Centennial, guiding those on the outer circle to place a special medallion around the neck of each new student now standing in front of them. 

“As the class of 2028, you have accepted the responsibility to preserve the CIRCLES values. Faculty, staff, students and community have pledged to support you, and we expect you to succeed,” Washington said. “By accepting this medallion, you commit to your personal growth as a student, as a global citizen, and as a member of Union Commonwealth University family.”


He instructed the students to hold on to these medallions because when they graduate, there will be a closing CIRCLES ceremony in which they will give the medallion back to whomever they feel best represented these core values during their time at Union and made a positive impact on them.

Freshmen dressed in both casual and business-casual attire are being led along the front of campus in the dim evening light. They are walking through the center of the luminary-lit, brick-lined Legacy Walk and into the inner circle.
Students, faculty, staff, and community members are lined up in the dim evening light along the outer circle of the luminary-lit Legacy Walk, with Speed Hall and the Conway Boatman Chapel visible in the background. All are wearing a mix of casual and business casual-attire.
Freshmen dressed in both casual and business-casual attire are being led along the front of campus in the dim evening light. They are walking through the center of the luminary-lit, brick-lined Legacy Walk and into the inner circle. One female student is walking with crutches.
Three female students dressed in formal attire are posing for a photo with their arms around each other. The student in the middle is wearing a Convocation medallion on a black ribbon around her neck, like a necklace. A dark sky and lamplights from the front of the campus are visible in the background.
A Convocation Circles medal with a black neck ribbon is lying on green grass lit up by soft lighting. The medal reads Union College 1879 CIRCLES.
A male freshman wearing a gray checkered shirt is receiving a Convocation Circles medallion from a woman wearing a teal dress. Both are smiling at the camera while she places the medal around his neck. In the background, several other students are also receiving medallions against a dark sky lit by streetlamps.
A group of twenty men and women in casual and formal attire stand together in front of a brick building with white pillars on a set of stairs. Several are wearing their Circles medallions. One male student is giving a thumbs up.
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