Officials welcome, advise at Convocation

Freshmen from all four undergraduate schools marched to College Green for their official induction into Penn. Traffic on Locust Walk and Spruce Street came to a halt last night as the semi-formally dressed Class of 2002 marched together from a dessert reception in the Quadrangle to a ceremonially lit College Green as part of this year's Convocation. Convocation is the annual ceremony representing the official induction of the freshman class into the University. It also marks the first time -- and one of the only times -- that students in all four undergraduate schools walk together as a class. The other times are Hey Day, when juniors are declared seniors, and Commencement. The evening began with a dessert reception for most of the Class of 2002's 2,400 members, and continued with a laughing, shouting procession to College Hall. Many faculty members also participated in the ceremonial march, smiling as they walked alongside the freshmen. "It's a perfect evening," said College Dean Richard Beeman, who heads the School of Arts and Sciences' undergraduate division. "It's the first Convocation ever held outside, and I think that this whole kind of pep rally atmosphere is a great idea." Convocation was held last year in the Palestra. Previously, it was held in Irvine Auditorium, which is currently undergoing large-scale renovations. At College Green, the crowd enjoyed a brief musical overture played by the Penn Band before listening to speeches by University Chaplain William Gipson, Admissions Dean Lee Stetson and University President Judith Rodin. In their speeches, administrators urged the class to recognize the unique talents of their classmates, pointing out the exceptional accomplishments of several individual students. "[Among you] there is a student in the process of patenting a math theorem, a pianist at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, a developer of a human-powered airplane and the creator of a statewide AIDS organization," Rodin said. Citing the class' 154 student-body presidents, 550 team captains and 24 Olympic hopefuls, Rodin added that the class was, statistically, the most competitive ever admitted to Penn. Just 4,837 students, or 29 percent of the 16,651 applicants, were accepted. In the wake of recent alcohol-related deaths at other schools, Rodin and other speakers urged the freshmen to act responsibly at Penn. "Please be as smart with your social life as you are with your school life," Rodin said. "Don't be guided by the perception that everyone drinks." Rodin cited the lyrics of the 1997 pop hit "The Freshmen" by the Verve Pipe to express her confidence in the incoming class as well as the responsibility that comes with being a student at one of the country's most prestigious universities. In response to the song's lyric "We can't be held responsible.? we were only freshmen," Rodin told the audience, "You can be held responsible, you're freshmen at the University of Pennsylvania." "It was a really impressive experience, especially because we got to meet President Rodin herself," said Wharton freshman Faye Iosotaluno after the initial reception.