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UB welcomes new students
New tradition kicks off Opening Weekend activities
By JESSICA KELTZ
Reporter Contributor
In a new UB tradition, President John B. Simpson and other members of the university community welcomed new students to campus with speeches and entertainment during a special ceremony held on Friday in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
President John B. Simpson offers
remarks at the first-ever University Welcome for new students, held on
Friday in the Center for the Arts Mainstage. In addition to Simpson,
Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic
affairs, spoke to students, as did faculty member Diane Christian,
alumnus and UB parent Timothy Lafferty and Dela Yador, president of the
undergraduate Student Association.
PHOTO: DOUGLAS LEVERE
University Welcome featured remarks by Simpson; Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs; a parent and alumnus of UB; a faculty member; and two students, as well as musical performances and a video presentation highlighting the university's strengths. (For more photos of the University Welcome, as well as other Opening Weekend activities, click here.)
"I have to admit that I am more than a little envious of you," Simpson told entering freshmen and transfer students in the audience. "Because it's not often that one has the opportunity to enter a new world for the very first time."
Simpson encouraged students to explore the opportunities available to them at UB, to appreciate the quality of faculty members and their research, and to develop new interests.
"At UB you will not just study knowledge. You will create knowledge—knowledge that has a potential, literally, to transform the world around us," he said.
Tripathi reminded students of all the choices UB has to offer, and all the different directions they can take in their educations.
"A research university by its very definition exists to create new knowledge," he said, citing some of the important innovations UB faculty members have developed, including a technique to kill airborne pathogens and a high-tech swimsuit worn by athletes in the 2004 Olympics. "It is my hope that during your four years at UB, you will seize many of the intellectual and social opportunities that UB offers, and that, more importantly, as a student you will make contributions to UB's intellectual life and culture."
Diane Christian, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of English, offered students some advice for the next four years.
"I want to give you first a piece of advice, which is 'go to class,'" Christian said. "That is, cultivate the present tense. We live in a world where we can replay and set the TV and turn on the TiVo and we have a sense that everything is replayable. It isn't."
Christian said that as part of a film seminar she teaches, she stresses the importance of students attending the screenings instead of renting the movies on their own time.
"We always say to the students, seeing films is supposed to be huge. It is supposed to be live, and it is supposed to be with other people," she said. "Watching it on TV is better than nothing, but it isn't the same thing. This is true, too, of class."
An alumnus and parent of a UB sophomore, Timothy Lafferty said that his UB years represented an important part of his life and that he and his wife—whom he met at UB—were excited to see their daughter choose to attend the university, too.
"The friendships and relationships that I built here during my college years remain very strong to this day," Lafferty said. "My time as a UB student was truly memorable and I wish the same for the students here today."
Dela Yador, president of the undergraduate Student Association (SA), told students he came to UB from the Bronx in order to be among other students from diverse cultures and backgrounds. He encouraged them to get involved on campus as a way to make the most of their college years.
"Don't just be participants; be a leader," he said. "Join your Senate and Assembly, and help us help you. Enjoy today, enjoy tonight and enjoy your weekend. And remember SA. This is your voice, so get involved."
The program also featured two songs from the all-male a cappella group Buffalo Chips and was followed by a picnic for new students and their families.