Evoking the recent 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, President Mark Schlissel called upon incoming University of Michigan students to embrace ambition and a commitment to discovery during the annual New Student Convocation.
Schlissel noted the university’s proud legacy in space exploration — including two historic space missions with crews consisting entirely of U-M alumni — as just one of many examples of what can happen “at the intersection of research and human imagination.”
“When you combine discovery with ambition, anything is possible,” said Schlissel, addressing students and their families at the Aug. 30 ceremony in Crisler Center. “There is no more powerful recipe for human progress.”
That progress in service of society, Schlissel continued, is the greatest role of public universities like U-M.
“What if we focused the same combination of research and imagination that took us to the moon on the problem of global climate change? On income inequality? On gun violence?” he asked. “When we marshal our intellectual capacity and public support in service of a goal, the imaginable becomes concrete. We solve problems. We bridge divides. We create knowledge. We expand understanding.”
Schlissel welcomed the incoming students on behalf of the university, noting they are “amongst the best and the brightest” from their communities.
“You’ve earned your place here at the University of Michigan,” Schlissel said.
The university received more than 65,000 freshman and transfer applications this year. The new students come from more than 2,200 high schools and nearly 350 colleges across 78 counties in Michigan, all 50 states — plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands — and 68 countries.
Kedra Ishop, vice provost for enrollment management, offered her congratulations to the students and families, reminding them that every successful U-M alumnus once experienced that first day in Ann Arbor and once sat where they were sitting.
“Wolverines like you who’ve founded companies like Google, Jet Blue and Walgreens, played in every major sports league and medaled in every Summer Olympics,” Ishop said. “Who have been senators, representatives, governors, the first female U.S. surgeon general, and even president…You should feel pride in knowing that you’re now a part of the Michigan family.”
Ishop urged the students to explore the university’s many resources, care for each other and seize upon the opportunities now before them.
“I challenge you today, at the beginning of this bold adventure, to endeavor to listen, learn and equip yourself with the skills you will need to graduate from this great university and to go forth and change lives,” she said.
In his address to students, Provost Martin Philbert said that an important and difficult aspect of their U-M education will be encountering ideas and opinions that challenge them. The university’s commitment to the exchange of ideas is fundamental, Philbert said.
“Examining ideas — and the possibility of changing your mind — is some of the hardest work you will do as students,” he said. “It is not easy. It can be uncomfortable. And we are here to support you as you encounter new ideas and undertake rigorous analysis of them.”
Philbert encouraged students to get involved in some of the roughly 1,600 student organizations on campus and remember that their classmates and friends are an important part of their college experience.
“As you begin your time here, I encourage you to follow the lead of students who have preceded you,” he said. “Seize the opportunities available to you, explore widely, dig deeply into areas that interest you, develop friendships that will sustain you.”
Freshmen Ila Iyengar and Bhavya Kadiri, high school friends from Northville, Michigan, sat near the front of Friday’s event and both said how “super excited” they were to be on campus and experience the new independence that comes with it.
“It’s definitely different than my life at home,” Iyengar said.
Kadiri agreed, saying she had already met “a bunch of cool people.”
“I’m excited to learn about what I want to do,” she said. “In college, we can decide what we’re interested in.”
Maille Frohoff, a freshman from Mackinaw City, Michigan, said she’s already had the chance to meet so many interesting fellow students from diverse backgrounds.
“I feel like I’ve been waiting for so long for this, and now it’s finally here,” Frohoff said. “It’s exciting to see it all and take advantage of everything that’s available.”
