Opening Convocation Speaker Asks Students to Find “Authentic You”

The College Choir performed the alma mater as the convocation program concluded. To the right of the choir are (front row, L-R), President Chabotar, Dean of Students Aaron Fetrow, Professor Jeff Jeske, (back row) Vice President and Academic Dean Adrienne Israel and Campus Ministry Coordinator Max Carter.

Students attending Opening Academic Convocation Sept. 3 were urged to engage in the campus community and examine their authentic selves.

In his keynote remarks to more than 800 students, faculty and staff, Dana Professor of English Jeff Jeske described the “fundamental difference between our two selves” – the public and the private – and the discrepancy that can exist between them. He spoke of the importance of understanding one’s “authentic you” in determining life goals, such as a profession that is meaningful, enjoyable and challenging.

Jeske offered the example of his eldest daughter, Colleen, whose internships with community service organizations prompted her to switch her major at Duke University from engineering to public policy.  “I predict that at least 45 percent of you will change your major at least once,” he said. “Be open to it.”

Jeske also encouraged students to seek out courses that offered a dynamic experience between student and faculty, and to take advantage of the more than 50 student-run clubs and sports. “There are many ways to get involved and to forge the relationships Meredith was seeking,” he said, referring to a popular and accomplished student who failed to connect meaningfully with other people in her career at Guilford.

A member of the English department faculty and advisor to The Guilfordian, Jeske has won three teaching awards, including one of last year’s Bruce B. Stewart Teaching Excellence Awards, as well as honors for advising and mentoring.

“I’ve known Jeff for more than 20 years,” said Adrienne Israel, the vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, introducing Jeske. “His heart and his office are always open. Jeff is someone who listens and someone who cares.”

In his remarks, President Kent Chabotar noted that, unlike most liberal arts colleges, Guilford’s campus community is a plurality of traditional students living on campus, adult students and Early College students taking college courses, with more students, faculty and staff of color than most competitors. Chabotar also praised Guilford’s continued focus on applying a liberal arts education to real-world issues.

More than 800 students, faculty and staff attended convocation in Dana Auditorium.

“Guilford has a curricular focus on principled problem-solving with a documented integration of academic courses with service and work experience that we call Guilford Connects,” Chabotar said. “Guilford students are being educated to be problem-solvers, not just problem-spotters.”

And according to Israel, Guilford is poised to turn out a record number of those “problem-solvers.” In recognizing the Class of 2009, Israel noted that more than 600 students are scheduled to complete their degree requirements this academic year.

Jeske addressed some final advice to everyone attending convocation. “A bodhisattva, in Buddhist thought, is a person who already has a considerable degree of enlightenment and could enter nirvana, the blowing out that is at the word’s etymological core, but who instead turns their back on that and instead selflessly seeks to use their wisdom to help other human beings to become liberated themselves.

“So I encourage everyone in this auditorium, faculty and students and staff, to strive for this high standard. Be a bodhisattva, a compassionate one.  It’s what being here at Guilford should and must be.”

To read the full text of Jeske’s remarks, click here.

To read the full text of President Chabotar’s remarks, click here.

Sept. 3, 2008