Baruch College’s Convocation 2018 to Welcome Largest First-Year Class in More Than 10 Years

Convocation on August 23 will kick off the College’s 50th Anniversary Celebration

July 30, 2018

Baruch College continues its tradition of formally welcoming new undergraduates to the campus community with Convocation 2018 on August 23 for first-year students, and will hold an opening ceremony for transfer students on August 24.

Convocation will officially kick off the College’s yearlong 50th anniversary celebration, which will conclude at Baruch’s Commencement ceremony in late spring 2019.

“We are thrilled to welcome approximately 1,650 first-year students, along with another 1,340 transfer students, to Baruch College,” said Art King, vice president for student affairs and dean of students. “This year represents our largest class of first-year students in more than a decade.”

According to King, it is fitting that the College’s 50th anniversary coincides with the impressive number of new students choosing to attend Baruch for the 2018-19 academic year. “We want them to feel a connection to our vibrant campus community and a college that is rich in history and true to its mission.”

King added, “Convocation and the opening ceremony mark a new beginning for the students and we are eager to demonstrate Baruch’s commitment to their success in pursuing an education and achieving career goals.”

The New Family and Student Programs (NSFP) office organized Convocation 2018, and developed the new fall opening ceremony for transfer students. The office, recently established as a resource for newly enrolled undergraduates, focuses on creating a smooth transition for both students and their families.

First-Year Students: August 23

Convocation 2018 for first-year students will be held on Thursday, August 23. President Mitchel B. Wallerstein, PhD, will address the students, along with Provost and Senior Vice President for academic affairs David Christy and Dean King.

Acclaimed author and historian Russell Shorto is the guest speaker. His internationally praised book, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America, has been assigned to the students. They will be discussing the text in seminar classes, which will be led by upper-class students serving as peer leaders.

A Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence at Baruch, Shorto looks forward to speaking at Convocation.

“As a writer you want to be read; you want your work to matter and be part of the conversation,” Shorto said about The Island at the Center of the World selected to be the first-year book. “As the Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence in the fall of 2017 I got to know many Baruch students. I found them to be intense, engaged, diverse, striving: true representatives not only of the College, but of New York.”

“Based on what I just said, above, I would love students to read the book and discover the New York roots of those qualities – intensity, engagement, diversity, a striving sensibility,” Shorto added. “They were all there in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, and its capital of New Amsterdam.”

Transfer Student Welcome – August 24

On Friday, August 24, Baruch College will hold an opening ceremony for newly admitted transfer students and their families. Dean King, NSFP staff, current transfer students, and members of the Transfer Student Organization will address the group.

A Student Affairs’ Student Services Panel will provide information about a wide range of resources and programs at Baruch. Parents can attend the question and answer workshop, and will receive information to sign up for a new parent advisory council.

First-year and transfer students can get more information on the New Family and Student Programs office webpage.

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