by Taylor Bryant
Honors College Dean Dr. Michael Hester presided over the 2014 Freshmen Transitions Orientation Convocation held on Sunday, August 24, 2014, in the UWG Coliseum for the largest freshmen class yet at the university.
The convocation, a ceremony in which new freshmen are welcomed in to the academic community of the university, included a welcome from SGA president Sandra Santiago and words of wisdom and encouragement from UWG alum and state representative Dusty Hightower. UWG’s President Kyle Marrero also gave words of encouragement and lead the students in the reciting of the West Georgia creed:
I am West Georgia.
I pledge to walk with integrity, speak honestly and live responsibly. I pledge to seek scholarly achievement, creative expression and service to humanity.
I pledge to remember that I carry the eternal flame of knowledge within me. I pledge to honor tradition but to push boundaries for reaching unlimited possibilities.
I am West Georgia.
Students remained standing as they pinned themselves with a University of West Georgia Class of 2018 pin to signify their commitment to educational excellence. The ceremony concluded with the lighting of the flame, a tradition that celebrates knowledge, light and warmth, but most importantly, it is the passing of the baton to a new generation of students who will carry UWG into the future.
The West Georgia Flame was adopted in 1997 to symbolize the torch of knowledge and replaced the previous logo of the McIntosh Stone.
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