DSU holds annual convocation – article and photo slideshow
Delaware State University officially proclaimed the start of the 2018-2019 academic year with its annual Convocation Ceremony on Sept. 6 in the Education & Humanities Theatre.
For images from the Convocation, click on the below link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/48216028@N03/sets/72157671230956257/show
DSU President Wilma Mishoe presided over what was her first Convocation as the University’s chief executive – where her father was president from 1960 to 1987 when it was still named Delaware State College.
The theatre was filled to capacity, largely with the incoming freshman class that is slated to graduate in 2022. The stage was occupied by executive administrators, Board of Trustees members, deans and others.
This keynote speaker was Matthew W. Horace, a class of 1985 DSC alumnus. Mr. Horace is a 27-year retired law enforcement officer – 24½ years of which he spent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. During his Delaware State College years, he was All-MEAC offensive lineman for the Hornets football team.
He is currently the chief technology officer for a firm in Denver, CO. Because of his accumulated law enforcement expertise – especially at the federal level – he is often tapped as a CNN contributor to provide on-air perspectives on police, criminal justice and race issues. Mr. Horace has authored a book The Black and The Blue that deals with the relationship between law enforcement, race relations and movements like “Black Lives Matter.”
Mr. Horace told the first-year audience that he didn’t need an Ivy League pedigree to enjoy a successful career.
“Proudly I needed what I received and I received what I needed right here at DSU,” he said. “Don’t allow anyone to insult or minimize your college experience as second rate. It wasn’t for me and it won’t be for you.”
From Walden by Henry David Thoreau – one of his favorite books – Mr. Horace quoted the author: “I learned this, by my experiment, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
Mr. Horace noted that he once sat as a freshman in a Delaware State College convocation, and in the subsequent years he came to learn that the institution cared for him.
“Before “Black Lives Matter” was an everyday term, I knew my life mattered,” Mr. Horace said. “My life mattered to people like Dr. Luna Mishoe, Dr. Scott King, Joyce Breasure, Dr. Demas Kenyatta, Dr. Eartha Holley Nelson Townsend and Coach Joe Purzycki.”
He added that just as he has fond memories of then-DSC President Luna Mishoe, this freshman class will also have found memories of his daughter Dr. Wilma Mishoe, who is now serving as the 11th president in the history of the institution.
During the Convocation, there were performances by the DSU Approaching Storm Band, representatives of the DSU Concert Choir, and a rousing solo by bass-baritone Marcus Johnson, who sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Dr. Alexis Silver, chair of the Faculty Senate, told the freshmen that success does not simply mean choosing a major, passing courses, graduating and finding a job.
“Success means using these years in your life to explore and to learn more about who you are and who you want to be,” she said. “So I urge you to take advantage of any and all opportunities that come your way to explore your interests, to learn about the world, and to decided how you want to contribute in the future.”
Dr. Silver added that the DSU faculty is there to help them, but noted it is their responsibility to ask for help, seek mentors, and to be persistent in finding people that will help them in this academic journey.
She ended her address with practical advice.
“Remember to do your reading and go to class,” Dr. Silver said. “Those are key.”