Helen Oriatti-Bruns

Chief Copy Editor

On Thursday, Aug. 22, The College of Wooster celebrated its 155th Convocation. The event marked the official beginning of the College’s 2024-2025 academic year. 

As in previous years, Convocation opened with a procession of faculty and the senior class in academic regalia, with music provided by The College of Wooster Pipe Band. The event included speakers from the staff, faculty and the class of 2025. 

Henry J. Copeland Interfaith Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life, the Rev. Erin Guzmán, welcomed community members in her invocation. She discussed “sacred entanglement,” the idea that the world is complex and that community members live interdependent lives. 

“This is the place in which we live, learn and grow together,” Guzmán said. “Here is where we find the hope and courage to challenge our assumptions, unravel our biases and find our passions that give us the energy to keep going every day.”

Guzmán’s invocation was followed by the Convocation Address, an annual keynote speech addressed to students. It was — in keeping with tradition — written by College president Anne McCall. However, as McCall’s cancer treatment prevented her from attending the event, her address was read by Sarah Sobeck, dean for faculty development. 

In her address, McCall urged students to embrace wonder, healthy doubt and confidence. According to McCall, this will — over time, and with work — help students develop courage, a “vulnerability that comes with an open mind and heart.” 

“Wonder why others have opinions, beliefs and commitments, especially if you do not share them,” McCall wrote. “[It] will open doors to the wealth of human experience and also help you understand yourself better.”

Additionally, per McCall, students will be guided by faculty as they progress in developing these values. Some of these faculty members were recognized by Sobeck after McCall’s address.

In 2024, six professors were awarded tenure: Tracy Cosgriff, art history; Nathan Foster, psychology; Jeffrey Gershman, music; Michael Miyawaki, sociology; Carlo Moreno, environmental studies; and Dan Palmer, computer science. Three professors were promoted from associate to full professor —  Kara Morrow, art history; Olivia Navarro-Farr, archeology and anthropology; and Lisa Wong, music. Seven faculty members also received new titles thanks to endowed professorships created by donors.

Sobeck also encouraged audience members to applaud all faculty for their commitment to accessibility and education. In the final segment of the event, faculty, staff and student leaders were able to reflect on their time at Wooster and on the upcoming year. The year’s faculty representative was Hamed Goharipour, assistant professor of urban studies and Middle Eastern and North African studies.

Student speakers were Ryan Gross ’25, Shaunta Palmer ’25 and Minh Phan ’25. Palmer, president of the Black Student Association (BSA), encouraged students to promote change through collaboration.

“In a country that worships individualism, it’s easy to lose sight of the collective good, but let me be clear — we must come together and advocate for those who can’t advocate for themselves,” Palmer said. “Change has never come from people sitting quietly in their own corners.”

Palmer encouraged this kind of collaboration, rooted in mutual respect and advocacy, in the College community. According to Palmer, all College community members have a responsibility to work to “ensure that Black students have space on this campus.”

The student leaders of BSA, the Black Women’s Organization and the African Student Union, she said, have been forced to take this work “on [their] shoulders only.” She used the beginning of her speech to thank these groups, as well as her family, Latinas Unidas and Lillian Evans, former associate dean of students and director of multicultural student affairs, for supporting her.

For staff representative Andy Zidron, head men’s soccer coach and co-chair of the Staff Committee, the act of expressing gratitude is necessary for developing leadership skills and living in community with others. In a similar vein, he encouraged students to assist Wooster community members every day — for example, by holding the door open for others. 

“Wooster is about relationships,” Zidron said. “Whether you know it or not, you bring value by being present and being a friend. We all have the opportunity and privilege and responsibility to lead through service and gratitude.”