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Banner reading "UW Tacoma Presents Welcome Days" with crowds of attendees below.

Convocation Kicks Off the New Academic Year

September 30, 2021

Hear and see what it was like when we came together face-to-face as a community for the first time in 19 months.

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UW Tacoma celebrated the start of the 2021 academic year on Wednesday, Sept. 29, with our annual Convocation. More than 1,000 students, faculty and staff descended upon the Prairie Line Trail to hear speakers and score a free t-shirt and cookie. For many, it was their first time in person on the UW Tacoma campus, or it was the largest crowd of people they had been around since the pandemic began.

If you missed it, we've created a special episode of the UW Tacoma podcast, Paw'd Defiance, with the highlights.

 

And here is a slideshow of photos that capture the spirit of the day. Although it was cloudy, the rain held off and no one could complain it was too hot!

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Festive purple and gold balloons, here seen with the Tioga Library Building and Old Tioga in the background.

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Mentha Hynes-Wilson, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, always comes prepared.

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The Grand Staircase does not always look like this. A special decal treatment has been added to the stair risers.

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ASUWT President Andre Jimenez and Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange show good mask fahion.

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Mark Glenn, '95, '01, in the top hat, is known as Sergeant Husky and won the UW Veterans Flyaway Contest in 2019.

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The Snoqualmie Power House, a campus landmark, makes a suitable background for crowds of Convocation attendees on the Prairie Line Trail at UW Tacoma.

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Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange asked the crowd to observe a moment of reflection on all that they had gone through over the past year and a half.

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Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards inspired the crowd with her remarks celebrating the impact of UW Tacoma on the city and the region.

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ASUWT President Andre Jimenez emphasized that students at UW Tacoma have earned the right to celebrate their presence on campus: "You belong here."

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850 t-shirts were distributed free to students, along with bone-shaped frosted shortbread cookies.

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As the ceremonies ended, students dispersed to classes or just to explore the campus they had not seen in so long.

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Finally, Paw'd Defiance asked the UW Tacoma community to share their thoughts on returning to campus after 19 months of remote instruction and work.

 
Written by John Burkhardt
Photos by Ryan Moriarty
Podcast produced by Eric Wilson-Edge
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