CONTACTS:
Patrick Heaton, (850) 644-2785; <pheaton@admin.fsu.edu>
Or Robin Leach (850) 644-2428; <rleach@fsu.edu>
Or Jennifer Buchanan (850) 644-6876; <jbuchanan@fsu.edu>

By Libby Fairhurst
August 19, 2008

FSU TO WELCOME CLASS OF 2012 AT ‘NEW STUDENT CONVOCATION’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State University will honor its incoming first-year students and welcome them officially into its community of scholars during New Student Convocation, an hour-long ceremony scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. (doors open at 12:30 p.m.) on Sunday, August 24, 2008, at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center.

Families and members of student organizations are invited to the event, which will introduce the Class of 2012 -- 5,200 of the state’s best students -- to FSU history and traditions and university pomp and circumstance.

New this year is the free shuttle service that will run between on-campus residence halls and the Civic Center. Convocation parking will be available free of charge at FSU’s newly opened St. Augustine Parking Garage (located on West Pensacola Street just west of the Civic Center; enter/exit garage from St. Augustine Street or Copeland Street) and in lots at or near the Civic Center for a $6 fee. Directions, a shuttle map and an R.S.V.P. form for students and families are online at <http://admissions.fsu.edu/Convocation>.

“New Student Convocation shows our students what we value most in our academic community: scholarship, integrity, responsibility and leadership,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Lawrence G. Abele.

Sunday’s ceremony will begin with an academic procession that includes the deans of FSU’s 16 colleges in full academic regalia.

Associate Professor of English Julianna Baggott, the assistant director of FSU’s celebrated Creative Writing Program in the Department of English, will deliver the convocation address. She will share her insights on living the student life fully and creatively.

Baggott, who teaches fiction writing and poetry workshops, is a bestselling author of five novels for adults and seven (five published, two forthcoming) for young readers as well as an acclaimed poet with three published collections. Her newest novel, “My Husband’s Sweethearts” -- written under the pen name Bridget Asher -- will be in stores Aug. 19. Baggott has won a Florida Book Award for poetry and two for children’s literature, including a gold medal for “The Somebodies,” part of “The Anybodies” book series that she wrote under the pen name N.E. Bode. She also plays a leading role in a national outreach program that helps children develop imagination, language skills and empathy through reading, and started a non-profit called “Kids in Need - Books Indeed” that provides books to low-income children in Florida.

The New Student Convocation will feature FSU’s historic Torch Ceremony, during which upper-class students pass the torches representing Vires (strength), Artes (skill) and Mores (character) to members of the first-year class. This year’s upper-class representatives are:

• (Vires) Myron Rolle, of Galloway, NJ, a scholar-athlete who graduated in August with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science earned in just two and a half years. Soon he will start a master’s degree program in public administration –– enroute to one day becoming a doctor and running a medical clinic. Rolle was selected for the Arthur Ashe Foundation All-America Academic Team and named the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Rookie of the Year.
• (Artes) Rebecca Stone, of Ft. Walton Beach, who just completed her second year at FSU and already has won a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for students in science, math and engineering. A chemical engineering major, Stone currently is working with Sir Harry Kroto, the Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and a Nobel Laureate.
• (Mores) Alex Merkovic, a Middle Eastern Studies major from Tequesta, Fla., and co-founder of Global Peace Exchange, an organization linking a network of universities with government agencies that can help young people perform international humanitarian service related to their academic major or other expertise.

Serving as the torch recipients for the Class of 2012 are the three winners of FSU’s annual Vires, Artes, Mores (strength, skill, character) essay contest for first-year students, which awards a $500 scholarship to each of the winning writers. In 2008, they are:

• Adam Clark, a political science major from Longwood, Fla. He graduated from Lake Mary High School with a 4.3 GPA and has attained the rank of Eagle Scout.
• Temy Clemons, a business major from Boynton Beach, Fla., who graduated from Palm Beach Lakes High School with a 4.2 grade point average, placed third in the Future Business Leaders of America State Competition, and logged more than 300 community-service hours.
• Ashley McBee, an economics major from Venice, Fla. A participant in 10 mission trips with her church, she graduated from Venice High School with a 4.2 GPA.

Convocation also will include a pinning ceremony led by Vice President for Student Affairs Mary B. Coburn, during which students recite the Seminole Creed and put on a special pin created for the event. The torch ceremony that follows, led by Dean of Undergraduate Studies Karen L. Laughlin, will emphasize the intellectual traditions of the institution and include a recitation of the Academic Honor Policy Pledge. Between the Alma Mater -- to be sung by first-year music major Lauren Brautigam of Tallahassee -- and the recessional, Provost Abele will outline his high expectations of the Class of 2012 as both scholars and leaders.

Sunday’s Convocation takes place on Day 5 of Seminole Sensation Week, the annual prelude to the fall semester that helps students connect with friends and sample some of the extracurricular activities that energize campus life. Most are free with a valid FSU ID.

“Seminole Sensation Week just gets better every year,” Coburn said, noting that the revival of New Student Convocation in recent years grew out of student ideas and their renewed interest in FSU traditions.

For a list of Seminole Sensation Week activities, visit <http://ssweek.fsu.edu>.

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Students or guests with disabilities who need special assistance during New Student Convocation (such as an interpreter or hearing devices), or who have other questions regarding the event, should contact the Dean of the Faculties Office by phone at (850) 644-6876.