On Thursday, September 24, students gathered for the very first Kean Jersey City Freshman Convocation, a celebrating marking the beginning of their college experience and a new chapter for the campus.
The Class of 2030 is the first class of students to enter the Jersey City campus as Kean students from the start of their college careers. The class is also the first expected to graduate in the 2030s and the last freshman class to begin its studies during the campus’ first century as an institution of higher education, according to Dr. David Birdsell, Kean’s Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The annual ceremony brought students, faculty, staff and university administrators together in the Jersey City campus’ multipurpose rooms. Students checked in on the second floor of the Gilligan Student Union Building before gathering for the ceremony and a reception.
As the ceremony approached, freshmen wearing deep blue “Kean Freshman Convocation: Cougars Climb” shirts lined up to enter the room. Students holding blue and silver pom-poms and “I Love Kean” signs greeted them as they entered, while faculty and staff applauded from their seats.
Kerrin Lyles, Vice President of Student Affairs and the event’s host and emcee, first greeted the students. He encouraged students to become involved on campus from the beginning of their college careers.
Drawing from his own experience as a two-time Kean graduate, Lyles told students that the people and opportunities he encountered at Kean played a major role in his own success. He became involved through the Office of Residence Life and as a student athlete, experiences that helped him develop relationships, learn about campus resources and build leadership skills.
“I would say without hesitation that I would not be standing here today, if it were not for the people and the opportunities that I found here at Kean University,” Lyles said.
He encouraged students to give themselves grace, become comfortable with being uncomfortable and try new things.
Lyles also urged the Jersey City freshmen to take advantage of opportunities beyond their home campus, including visiting the Union campus, attending programs and interacting with students and staff there. He reminded students that shuttles are available between campuses.
“Do something today that your future self will thank you for,” he told the class.
He closed his remarks by reminding students that every class they attend, relationship they build, club they join and challenge they overcome will contribute to their college experience.
“Your time here will fly by,” Lyles said. “I challenge you to make the most of it.”
Speaking next was Birdsell. He described the Class of 2030 as a class defined by being "two firsts and a last." They are the first generation of Kean students expected to graduate in the 2030s, the first students who are entering as native Kean Jersey City students, and the last freshman class to begin their studies during the campus’ first century as an institution of higher education.
Birdsell asked students to consider what college can actually provide in a world where information is changing rapidly. He noted that the amount of knowledge in the world once doubled roughly every century. By 2015, he said, that figure had fallen to about 13 months. Now knowledge doubles every 12 hours.
Because information changes so quickly, Birdsell argued that college cannot simply be about memorizing facts. “It’s how you ask questions. It’s how you learn,” he emphasized.
He encouraged students to engage physically and mentally with campus life, take advantage of opportunities such as study abroad programs and campus speakers, and ask questions of professors, academic advisers and Student Affairs staff.
He also encouraged students to participate in research, regardless of their field of study. “There is nothing more exciting than to think about creating knowledge that before you got involved, no one knew,” Birdsell said.
Last but not least to greet the students was Andrés Acebo, Chancellor of Kean Jersey City. He first thanked the students for choosing Kean Jersey City and emphasized the significance of students entering the campus during its transition into the Kean system.
A first-generation son of Cuban exiles himself, Acebo spoke about the range of backgrounds represented among the students the university serves, including first-generation students, immigrants, veterans and nontraditional students. He described the university as a place of opportunity and told students that becoming part of Kean also comes with a responsibility to shape the institution.
“A university is not transformed merely because its structure changes,” Acebo said. “It’s transformed when we decide to change.”
Acebo encouraged students to make Jersey City their home base without allowing the campus to become the limit of their experience. He urged them to visit other Kean campuses, pursue internships and attend lectures. He also encouraged students to seek out professors, advisers and counselors rather than waiting for opportunities to come to them.
The students entering Kean Jersey City arrived with different expectations for what their college experience will look like. Mya Harris, a Criminal Justice major from Jersey City, NJ, described herself as nervous, excited and curious about starting college.
Harris said she is shy but wants to make friends and join clubs. She chose Kean Jersey City partly because her brother attended the campus when it was NJCU. "I decided to follow behind [him] and be a Kean student. Since he was [part of] NJCU, I want to be a Kean student."
For Michael Tenezaca, a Fine Arts student switching to photography from Newark, NJ, the nerves of starting college have already begun to fade.
“I was nervous at first, but then it transitioned to calm,” Tenezaca said. “And now I'm feeling more comfortable.”
Tenezaca said he is looking forward to experiencing college for himself rather than simply trying to recreate the version of college he has seen in the media.
“I want to make it my own way,” he said.
His goal for his freshman year is to make the experience memorable, including meeting people and making a name for himself on campus.
Sophia Kajzem, a biology student switching to English education from Bayonne, said her early college goals include learning how to manage her time, stay ahead of her work and build new connections. She chose Kean Jersey City because of its proximity to her home, its range of majors and recommendations from others.
During her time at Kean, Kajzem hopes to meet new people, achieve her goals, join a club and community and potentially find a job on campus.
At the end of the ceremony, Lyles asked the Class of 2030 to take out the tassels provided for the event and stand for the freshman pledge.
The students recited the pledge together before ending the ceremony with a chant: “Cougars climb higher!”
