2024 Convocation

ladies and gentlemen ladies and gentlemen welcome to Nevada State University's convocation [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning Nevada State University let me be the first to welcome you to our second annual convocation my name is Aaron I am the vice president for advancement here at Nevada state we are going to start our convocation with some Spirit do you see we have the the Spirit Squad on stage and we are all going to sing the Spirit song together you can find the lyrics in the back of your program or they will be up here on the wall got it on [Applause] [Music] this we are the Scorpion youve and true on to Victory [Applause] [Music] thank you so much Spirit Squad it is now my distinct honor and pleasure to introduce to you our eighth President of Nevada State University Dr Darien [Applause] Pard well hello scorpions oh come on now we want have to try this one more time with a little bit more energy hello scorpions thank you I am absolutely delighted to be here today and I want to thank you for joining us us on this glorious morning uh as was said I'm darianne Pard I am the proud president of this phenomenal institution and I'm honored to be here to welcome you and to Shepherd us through the program for today because we have a wonderful set of things planned for you over the next several days as you get ready to start the fall semester so I am full of joy and I hope that each and one of you are also full of joy in your experiences here thank you everyone in the room who made this possible and those of you who are still working to make sure the program continues throughout the day uh I think it's always a great opportunity to start a program at the institution with our spirit song because it inuat us to think deeply about how we do this work here so before the program begins I would like to invite Melody Glover alumni and marketing and events administrative assistant to the stage to lead us in the singing of the national anthem everyone please rise oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we held at the Twilight last gleaming who brought stripes and bright stars through the per fight or the ramp parts we watched were so Gallant streaming and the rocket red glare the bombs buring in air gave prove through the night that our flag was still there oh s does that star sangled B W or the land of the free and the home of the [Music] [Applause] brave thank you melody for that beautiful rendition it is my pleasure and honor to welcome each of you to another Convocation at Nevada State University and while I can't excuse me capture everyone in the room I do want to do a few shout outs to recognize uh certainly all anyone in the room who's an alumni of um Nevada State University would you raise your hand or stand please yeah come on I see some of y'all thank you we always like to recognize those I also would love to recognize one of our regions region Lord Perkins right here in the front region Perkins we have a host of faculty and staff who are here with us and certainly to our students we are so excited to have you here today we put a lot of thought and intentionality into curating uh today's program for you and today you'll have the opportunity to hear from one our tremendous faculty members as keynote Dr Erica Abad two of our incredible student leaders and then a couple remarks from yours truly uh but first of all it is my privilege uh to introduce our incredible Provost Dr Sarah fry Dr Fry joined Nevada state last year and has worked incredibly hard and tirelessly on behalf of this institution our faculty and students Dr [Applause] Fry students it is my uh privilege to introduce Dr Erica Abad Dr Erica Abad is an assistant professor of commun in Communications in the department of data media and design I continuously hear from students that one of our outstanding accomplishments in Nevada state is the dedication of our faculty and their commitment to our mission of serving our students in fact I would go as far to say that our faculty of this University are our superpower their work is what makes us distinctive transformational and bold the Nevada State University faculty understand higher education as a deliberate force in the lives of our students our community the region and this state our faculty are uncompromising in their belief in our educational Mission and our institutional imperative to deliver worldclass educational experiences for all of our students to that end Dr Abad will come in her own way to share a faculty perspective using the role of their family in the journey to explain how the UN University can help you maximize your assets and utilize our resources to help realize your full potential please join me in welcoming Dr [Applause] Abad good morning good morning one more time good morning good morning thank you hold for Tu we got to stay high didn't go okay thank you for taking the time to be here one of the things I love about being at Nevada state is how supportive we are of one another when asked to deliver the keynote today leadership wanted me to discuss this concept called Community cultural wealth the neota summerbridge students in the audience know this concept well because they made survival guides this summer using this framework Community cultural wealth can be easily translated into understanding the abundance of resources we get from our families social networks our resistances and how we steer ourselves through our academic Journey growing up I realized my families immediate extended and chosen remind me that keeping at it is as much about as much about living a better quality of life than my mother and my grandmother as it is about honoring their sacrifices and living up to the standards of determination and resilience they set for me that is why I curated an art show two years ago around photos of them the art show called two cultures one family building family and finding home was in also inspired by my years of teaching my mothers and daughters in the US class and the first year seminar I had built around Hamilton the musical and the Mixtape after years of asking my former UNLV students how they got to the college classroom and how the cultures and Times of the people they came from shaped them I curated a mixed media art show to answer the same questions about me as my students will learn I learn a lot from you and I am better much like I told my nepot students this summer because of everything you teach me in my keynote I will reference the commonalities between my traditional and my mother's non-traditional College Journeys to touch on the ways Nevada state students and community members can bring their Community cultural wealth into their college Journey this summer president Pard visited the communications class I created for nepantla Summer Bridge the day she visited next Slide the day she visited I asked students how many notes it took before they would give up this is a question if you are in my class I will ask you directly if not indirectly in asking that question I was looking for their awareness around their own resistance capital and I asked for two answers the one they expected me to hear from them and the honest one the answers as you can imagine were very different three like baseball was their common response inde definitely was what they expected from me but in in reflecting on these answers and their differences two particular student stories stuck out to me one was of a musician who was trying out for their school band and they didn't use the no to give up rather they used the no to say I'm going to keep practicing I'm going to work on my craft and try again and they kept doing that at every level and this summer they told us they were playing for a national audience with their High School band again my students inspire me daily another student who asked how about my sister and how we navigated this journey together also said you only fail when you stop trying you only fail when you stop trying how does this connect to my mother and my journey I'm a traditional college student I got my PhD at 29 thanks to the McNair Scholars Program after that I worked at a call center as a field director as a youth counselor as an urban Garden manager as a food market manager and as a research assistant all before I got my first full-time academic job at UNLV in other words it's took me four years to land in the valley that I have come to love so much in contrast my mother did start at 18 but like as the oldest um she struggled being so far away from home um and so got married had kids and put her dreams of her college degree on pause until her children had better the year I was going into grad school is the year she was getting her Bach bachelor's degree in business bu and because I'm cheesy and she's watching the live stream can we all say hi mamad hi M comparing the nose between students discussion and my lived experiences resistance Capital answers the question how badly do you want what you're reaching for the answer to this question as my musician student taught me depends on how well what you want complements your dreams your dreams which are your aspirational Capital many of us pursue our college careers to take care of our families the families we came from the families we are building whether that be a family of one or in my case a family of over 50 my mom like many of you wanted to become a nurse like I said as the oldest daughter she wanted to extend the care of taking care of her family after they arrived to the states in Puerto Rico into a medical career going to college hours away from home however she found herself discouraged by isolation she didn't ask for help and instead went back home with a commitment to eventually return to college and get her college degree what she learned from that struggle from that stumble she brought back home once back home she started working at a hospital and over time would become one of the first Latina managers at a major Children's Hospital in Chicago all before completing her college degree I remember her coming home saying I am one of four Latina managers at what was then called Children's Memorial hospital and I was like if this is what my mom can do with a CO without a college degree the standards are high growing up I saw how she extended the help she wanted to give as a nurse in so many other ways the way she mentored her co-workers the way she gave helped some of my friends find jobs at that hospital the way she directed some of her friends children to take advantage of some of the opportunities my sister the other Dr rad and my older brother were taking advantage of I saw her I also saw her leaning on others because of what not leaning on others so young had cost her and don't get it twisted if you haven't gotten the message I'm going to come back and tell you directly in this way she showed me to think about how the people who step up for us show us that even with very little very little we can do a great deal folks in my generation remember the line how to make a dollar out of 15 cent very well raise your hand if a friend or someone from your social network a friend of a friend helped you find a job an apartment choose a class or choose a school going by the number of hand raids many of us are familiar with the concept of social capital a college and my example of social capital is hilarious so my mom um once I got to high school started going out dancing and taking dance classes because even though we're Puerto Rican and Dominican she needed to work on her dance moves right and so my junior year she says there's this professor who's studying how different Latino stud Dan salsa and I was like okay and he works at depal I was like uhhuh and then she's like if you want he's willing to talk to you about depal University because I wanted very quickly to have a college experience where I studied stories like mine stories like all of ours and paid it forward in how I developed my curriculum so he met with me on campus we had coffee he told me about the center for Latino research he told me about students who were informing the Latino studies curriculum and I knew even though it was home it was the best Institution for Me Not only was it the best Institution for me within a month of being there I worked in the Latino Studies Office which was in the same Suite as the center for Latino research and very quickly became immersed in a vibrant Latino AFR Latino intellectual community that I now imagine as normal another example of Social Capital fasting forward a couple of decades is how a friend of a friend Denette Barber who works here let me know that Nevada state existed in the December of 2019 she brought me to campus she introduced me to Dr n Dr Marshall Dr hignite and Dr Dr Harris and years later I count them among my most supportive colleagues and not just because they share good St or water so fast forward a couple of years in 2021 when I told my good friend Dr Chrystal Lee I was applying to Nevada State Communications That Girl pulled out her phone text Chris Harris and asked him what are you looking for because my home is applying for the job and it's that simple right with the things we do for the friends for friends that change our lives when I got here in the summer of 22 my story of social capital A done with Nevada state Dr Marcel Rodrigo oampo and rosemary Flores and Dr Chris Harris introduced me to many of my new colleagues as possible via the Latin exido meetings and the black faculty and staff lunch in and in this way I knew very quickly I had a place here and I belonged here because so many people who love the valley who L Nevada state gave me a reason to feel like I made sense here and while many people introduced me to schools and programs where I found belonging before I started teaching and as I continued to teach I equally indebted to the people I have met in trying to find a reason to stay Beyond this amazing job in other words a lot of people next slide no previous slide you know I'm all caught up in my speech I forget I have slides um so I'm indebted to the art activists I've met along the way um that I met because I started bringing students to the unov margerie baric museum and they over the years they helped me carve out an unexpected area of expertise in letting me read about them so much I took my commitment of wanting to make the history of my home visible and I brought it here and I'm indeed to all of the folks here who let me write about them and celebrate their resilience I also relied on them when I became a curator via the two cultures one family art show because let's be real I am not a trained art historian or curator but they helped me because I knew that they knew better than I curating I have learned is more than about choosing art pieces and a theme it's about connecting with artists advocating for artists and respecting their journey and their process my artist friends taught me that my artist friends also gave me advice when I was afraid I wasn't doing a good job of saying I see you to these artists I understand how to make a dollar out of 15 cent and do dope sorry I swear a lot um so after years of bringing students to the unv bar Museum to integrate arts in the classroom the museum staff was gener enough to be my teachers and guide me through the process of how to ensure that I respected their labor all the while meeting the me the needs of the timely demands of putting an Archer with over a dozen artists together while I'm also trying to start my job at Nevada state um we all juggle I know in the same vein Nevada state has a variety of people across academic affairs student affairs who are willing to do the same for you much like I have a variety of villages that got me here now as Nevada state students so do you and as I've told my students for as long as I've worked with them make us do our job what am I asking you to do I I need it louder exactly and yes that means you may have to email us for meetings yes that means that you may want to take advantage of coming to campus early and yes that means you may want to take advantage of those 10 minutes between classes as we walk back to our office or our next class and the thing is about all of those ways you get to choose how we work for you you each and every one of you get to choose how we work for you and here's the thing about Choice sometimes it just starts with one and one by one each meeting each visit to Career Services the visit to the wellness Department can add up to many my art shows a testament to that I was struggling and scared about how I was going to pay rent and the unov margerie bar Museum director was like do an art show and then I saw the Nevada state job and then I didn't have to worry about it anymore in choosing to share my story via this art show in choosing artists willing and vulnerable enough to share theirs visitors throughout the show then shared bits of theirs next slide and so by the end of this show of which was in January 23 over two 200 people this ain't all the cards y'all 200 people contributed parts of their stories on 3x5 index cards which are multicolored for a reason um and which is why they were shaped in a rainbow three slides ago um and they shared their parts of their Story part of their resistance and part of their dreams with us because we were vulnerable enough to do so and and all these stories showed me the potential of what sharing our families our communities can do to foster a stronger sense of belonging across difference 2115 responses were written and drawn across English Spanish tagalo German Chinese and these visitors were finding solidarity and commonality in the artworks of North American indigenous African-American Asian American latinxt and transgender artist experiences and from these stories because when 200 people share their stories with me they're giving me homework I have been creating workshops across campus that started with NE pointless student leaders opening up about the potential and the hurt that doing what we do for our family does which led to me engaging with McNair Scholars about the role of family in their desire to leave or to stay for grad school which then compelled me to think through with first year students and then future teachers via the teaching academic pipeline project to think about the role of family not just in your learning experience but with tap in how you can engage and connect with the families you serve as Educators what we learn from our families the families we build the families we come from and even the families we walk away away from can set the foundation of how we speak our dreams into the world and I am so grateful I am so grateful so many campus colleagues like Dr Rodrigo oampo Rosemary Flores and Dr Christopher Harris shared their dreams with me their dreams of serving you and uplifting and empowering you and their Spirit was contagious they along with colleagues who visited my art show like de haras HZ Dr n Dr navare among so many others like Dr Apple supported mine in getting here and when people support me I like to step up to the challenge next slide and so in this photo you'll see Dr apple with her mom and a family friend and they're reading this response card where someone unpacked the meaning of their name and the meaning of their name was light and as we were talking about it one of the things we were talking about what one of these things the card said and what the card said was my name means light and even though me being gay means I would I would be disowned by my family I cannot I cannot hide my light and so I I I start my conclusion there for a couple of reasons one because I really hope Dr Apple writes about the conversation she had with her mother after the show two because we want you to let your light shine here to Bicky back off of what Dr gun told the humanity scholar students yesterday afternoon Dr Apple her family and I met in the awe and wonder of these stories and specifically in thinking about how light can build Bridges across difference and when I think about the visitor sharing her story of embracing her light though resisting her family's expectations it grounds for me what so many of us here at Nevada state want for you and like I said we want you to let your light shine here at Nevada state and sometimes in shining we stumble and that's okay and it's okay because you we are always here to ask for help it's okay to stumble as long as you get back up and ask whether you ask your peers next to you your Educators the support staff like Megan Lynch with the pink hair if you want to get involved in student organizations it's okay to ask for help it's okay if the F happens if the no happens because like I said the musician student didn't let that keep them from playing their instrument and pursuing their goal of being part of a band The F the incomplete the withdrawal course the Lost job the housing insecurity does not have to be the end like my mother has shown me and how she has raised me and how she has adapted to so much change a n can often be the bridge to a better and brighter beginning thank you [Applause] thank you so much Dr abot um I don't know I I literally heard her talking this summer to her students and I said I want all of our students to have this type of currency that you keep with you as you start your experience at Nevada state so thank you uh for accepting that invitation I am so grateful uh that we have such dedicated and empowering and talented faculty at Nevada State University uh she exemplifies uh so many things but truly is one of the gifted professionals we have here at our institution you will see them in the classroom and our Laboratories and the clinics and our simulation centers and the academic support areas and just about every space that you would go into at Nevada state you will see our faculty and our staff who are so dedicated to you in fact I see faculty often times we meeting with students right in the cafeteria and walking out and having more conversations along the way that's the beautiful part about this institution so do you understand what we mean when we say that our superpower at Nevada state are indeed our faculty yeah thank you [Applause] so here's this thought though uh super uh Powers exist to mobilize Our Heroes and our heroes at Nevada state are you our students we exist for you students and their affirmation their empowerment their growth and their learning are why we choose to do this work and why we've chosen to do it at this institution so you don't have to trust me just yet about it I want you to hear it from one of your peers I'm excited to introduce to you and privileged to introduce Kevin osario Hernandez the president of the Nevada State student Alliance he is a native of Las Vegas Nevada and a first generation Guatemalan American Kevin is pursuing his Bachelor of Arts degree in history pre-law at Nevada state and at the core of his mission is belief that everyone especially our students deserve a seat at the table with an inclusive mindset he recognizes the vital importance of diverse perspectives and actively Works to ensure that all voices are not only heard at this institution but are also valued Kevin's dedication revolves around creating an inclusive and Equitable environment where students feel empowered could to contribute their ideas and experiences fostering a brighter and more inlo inclusive future for all please join me in welcoming Kevin ooro Hernandez to the [Applause] stage well thank you so much Dr Pard for that wonderful introduction and for your Relentless dedication to uplifting those around you and building the capacity for leadership and others uh can we give another round of applause to Dr Erica Abad um so my name is Kevin oor had n this and it is an immense honor to serve once again as the president of our student body for a second term today I want to share a bit about my journey at Nevada State University a journey marked by uncertainty perseverance and immense growth when I first started here I was an an undecided major and I was navigating the challenges of being a first generation college student who spent most of my K through 12 education in elll classes so it was a challenge to grasp my first year I also juggled work and school and let me tell you it is tough the path I've also taken is to really understand that I belong in this institution it isn't easy but but to the students who were like me in my first year and are still undecided Majors it doesn't mean that you're lost as my high school teacher used to say don't measure your progress by someone else's ruler my parents only completed a sixth grade education in Guatemala and their sacrifices to immigrate to this country continue to fuel and drive my inspiration to reshape not only my own narrative but The Narrative of my family as well and I'm doing that every single day that I step into my classes one of the most valuable lessons I've learned is the importance of stepping outside of our comfort zone Comfort can be the enemy of progress when we choose to push beyond what is familiar we open doors to change and opportunity that we never imagined possible so if you were to tell me my freshman year my first year here that I would have interned on Capitol Hill in Washington DC this summer I would wouldn't have believed you I heard a speech from Senator lefon Butler from California who calls us generation now I think that title fits us perfectly generation now means that we don't just wait for change we demand it we embody it and we live it college is more than just an institution it is a Launchpad here we gain the tools the knowledge and the confidence not only to continue demanding change but to become the change as a history major I am continually inspired by the student movements that came before us and they remind me every single day of the incredible impact that students have within the world in my time at NSU I've had the privilege of contributing to efforts that make a real difference my contributions through my service have been through advocating for our University name change writing a state resolution uh to ensure safety on college campuses advocating for our undocumented and immigrant students and ensuring the well-being of our students through food security initiatives as we move forward this year and throughout your journey at NSU remember the incredible power you hold to enact change for yourself your family your neighbors and your community remember the power that you have now always and in all ways so let's continue to not only demand change but to be the change for ourselves and for those sitting beside us before I close I want to challenge each of you to connect with at least two other students those sitting right next to you and introduce yourselves you never know who you might meet you never know who you sit next to you might even make a lasting friendship a perfect example of the impact that you can make at Nevada state is my dear friend and our Vice President lahana Pierce born in California and having moved to Las Vegas in 2020 lahana is a proud first generation Vietnamese student majoring in Communications with a minor in digital cinema she has always been a Relentless advocate for positive change on our campus always striving to uplift our NSU Community Lana's creativity and dedication have made a lasting Mark she even created our signature scorpion hand drer so I want to practice it together so on the count of three we're going to raise our fists and then we're going to raise our pinky just like this okay and so I'm going to on the count of three you're going to say Stingers up okay all right ready one two three Stingers up woo with that I'll go ahead and welcome lahana Pierce to the stage [Applause] oh man I heard the spirit just from right here how are we all doing good that's actually a lot more Spirit than I expected this early morning so um that's that's good I'm glad to hear it um as Kevin mentioned my name is lahana Pierce and I am the proud Executive Vice President of Nevada State University um Kevin didn't mention it which is okay I uphold a bunch of different positions on campus including the Spirit Squad if you saw me dancing up here that was me I also I'm the student brand ambassador for our school so I run the school social media I'm a part of different clubs on campus and obviously our student government and while the list can be pretty overwhelming I genuinely love every moment of what I do and that might sound pretty biased coming from a pretty involved student on campus but I honestly never imagined myself being this involved when I first entered College so I graduated from arview high school so that's where I focused most of my time which was in the video production program I was the news director for 2021 to 2022 so if any of you graduated from arview hi I hope you enjoyed our news it took a lot of time anyone graduate from arview raise your hand oh that's so unfortunate I hope somebody I hope somebody online or someone from the KB Auditorium graduated from there because that's like really embarrassing um but when I got accepted into Nevada State College as it was then um my plan was to focus on my studies as a visual media major and work on campus just for a paycheck and I moved on to campus and I immediately got a job as a student life assistant and initially it seemed like a pretty simple low maintenance job where I was able to just get paid to do my homework and relax but then my boss Megan Lynch the pink hair the one that Dr abon mentioned that's my mother by the way um she started having me work um check-ins for on campus events that's including the bean vaare our scorpion kickoff and our community socials and at first I did not care about these events at all whatsoever again I was only there for a check but then people I didn't even know started to have conversations with me and they'd ask me questions just basic ones like what's your name what year are you and what's your major and they may be brief interactions I had with people but it made me feel like I belonged on campus in a way and it was as if people cared that I was there even though all I was doing was scanning their IDs and those small moments of connection made me realize that I have a place here on campus and this pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and join different clubs and the more involved I became the more I found my place on campus particularly with Nevada State student Alliance and while I am not a political science major in any means whatsoever just to know that I can make a positive change on campus and uplift other students voices holds a really special place in my heart and as someone who rarely spoke up from K through 12 Nevada state university has given me the confidence to speak up without fear of judgment to advocate for change on campus and if there's one thing you take away from my story it's this put yourself out there and you will naturally find where you belong at Nevada State University everyone has a place where they belong and even if you don't join any clubs or work on campus would you totally should just know that NASA University is a community that welcomes you with open arms you'll find support inspiration and opportunities to grow both academically and personally Nevada State University is a place where you can Thrive and make lifelong connections that will last a lifetime you belong here and the entire Nevada State Community and I are so excited to see the unique contributions you will bring to our campus thank [Applause] you I don't know about the faculty and staff the students y'all are probably like okay it's a lot of sitting a lot of talking we almost done uh I think I'm the last one but what I those of us who work here I don't know about you I've had to kind of hold myself from crying like three times in here uh when I heard our faculty member talk about her own story and what her charge to you about make us do our work uh when I hear our brilliant students uh who talk about their journey through Nevada state um they are not the exception they are exceptional but we have thousands of students whose Li lived experience here resemble that so I thought I might end by talking with you a little bit about um My Own Story a little bit but more importantly leaving you with a charge so I I'm going to tell you is going to require some active participation at the end if you don't mind okay um as our University continues to work um and Transforming Our self it is important to me that we have this type of celebration at the start of an academic year uh there is something to be said about the grounding effect of traditions whether that being your family or with an academic spaces because it connects us to the people who came before us and perhaps connects us to those who come after us convocation is an important opportunity for all of us gather and to set the course for the upcoming year it marks the end of the summer break and the transition into the fall semester Nevada State University and I admit that I'm completely biased we are unlike any other institution in the state of Nevada but I suspect each of you probably knows that that already which may influence why you're here and perhaps as part of the reason why you chose to pursue higher education at Nevada state it is the uniqueness of this institution and its Limitless possibilities that Drew me here in 2021 I knew that we could make a university yes a university that reimagined higher education in this state now the story of Nevada state University is still in its earliest stages we are as we said last year at our state of the University We are Becoming meaning that we each have the unique opportunity to shape how we become while also making the university uniquely your own to the first year students here you are so very welcomed to our students who are continuing here at Nevada state you too are so incredibly welcomed this week has been designed with your success in mind with the belief that your first campus experience should be engaging enriching invigorating and informative but most importantly we are hopeful that you have found this week of programming to be one that's insightful as you prepare for your experience here at Nevada state we are invested in your success at this institution from day one and I believe that this is an important enhancement to the student experience allowing our students to get more comfortable with the campus and to feel confident heading into their first day it also provides an opportunity to make early connections with your fellow students so turn to the person next to you even if you do know them and say hey I'm such and such okay okay okay okay it's clear some of y'all sat next to somebody you know I can tell we're striving to make this Smart Start week align with the larger vision of Nevada state as being a student ready organization throughout high school and perhaps even sooner there is an emphasis on you becoming College ready making sure that you have the prerequisite knowledge and experience learning how to do research and perform well on assessments of your learning and developing your critical thinking skills and yes all of that was extremely important for your success ESS here at Nevada state you worked hard to arrive at this moment and we celebrate this journey for each of you the people who cheered you on the people who supported you the challenges that you had to overcome and perhaps even the voices that you had to mute in order to be here so what you should know is that we are continuously and deliberately evolving as a university to ensure that we are ready for you there is not one size that fits all of us and there is no model as to as to how one should look and feel being a college student some students are part-time and others take a full load some students work fulltime to support themselves and their families and others need financial assistance in order to attend higher education some do their classes all online online some prefer to do them face to face and many of you will do a hybrid of that and you'll have some online and some face to face and some will need just four years to complete and others of you will take longer to complete because your journey at Nevada State University regardless of how you arrived and how long it takes or the circumstances that you experience while you here we want you to know that we are ready to support you at Nevada state we boldly declare that we are the University of the new uni the new majority enrolled in higher education today we know that this new majority to be first generation students how many of you are first generation students raise your hand I just got the goosies we know that first generation students adult Learners students of color dreamers immigrants anyone looking for their opportunity to improve their economic Mobility is a part of the new majority whatever your path is to completing your degree I want you to remember that there is no absolute in how you do it so yes we are in the higher education business and we know a few things about how to be successful and we've designed an institution hopefully to do that and we pride oursel in our ability to help you do that so what does this mean for you though at this institution you will work hard some of you will likely work harder than you ever have in an academic institution but here's the secret part you're going to feel really good about that you're going to feel really good about it you will have be held to ambitious standards and academic rigor our faculty they don't play they want you to be successful they will meet you where they are but they want you to show up and be ready for what you can have here you will leave this organization affirmed and transformed and you also will hopefully be successful while you're here our commitment to you is that we will Center our work in meeting our students where they are are and we partner with you in your learning we commit to a college experience that is indeed transformational not transactional it means that we will work to find ways to reduce barriers that can often stop students from completing their education one way we've done that and I'm particularly proud of is our no cost textbook initiative uh our library has partnered with our faculty across the university to redesign their courses and open education resources that reduce the need for paid textbooks since 2017 this program has saved students $1.5 million in textbooks that's a lot of [Applause] money because what we know is that if you don't have to spend money in a textbook that might mean that you can take one more class that you might be able to feed your family you might be able to cont contribute to rent that might be a little less gas money that you are more money that you will have to put in the gas tank so let me say the quiet part out loud we want to do everything in our power to help you be successful here to ensure that every single student who begins or resumes their higher education Journey at Nevada state leaves with the degree in hand that they want but I also need you to know that we do this not because we're trying to have some high academic rank ranking or distinction we do this because we believe in the goal of making college education and college dreams possible to help our community to help Drive economic Mobility for you to change family stories to actually have Legacy that's what education does for you creating the possibility of a better future for you and our students is at the heart of our mission here at Nevada State University so I know you're looking at me and you're thinking at some point Dr P this all sounds great what is this actually mean this means that we build community here at Nevada state we create and protect the culture where we lift up our students and we believe in your gifts and we are committed to loving our students yes I said it loving our students we want to forge resiliency in you while also creating space for failure and that's an important thing for you to know so I'm a joyous person and I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself because of that I love celebrating the success of our students I'm full all the time when I drive on this campus and I see our students and I see our faculty and I see what happens in our classrooms but I also need you to know that sometimes folks aren't successful and that means though that it can be painful but I also know that failure is an important part of growth every time in my life where I've had a setback or a failure it has been the most inspirational and profound learning moment for me as well it helps me develop my resiliency and also teaches me how to overcome obstacles so I'm not trying to scare any of you with my talk of failure but I want to let you know that I speak from a profound place of experience from that I left my family on the south side of Chicago and went to Iowa State University first generation college student no one in my family knew we knew I was going to college I was a smart girl we didn't know how we was G to pay for it and I'll be paying Uncle Sam back until the day I retire but here's the thing that's crazy about that I almost failed out of college not once not twice but three times and I tell you this because I know for a fact I stand here now as the president of this institution someone who then graduated on the Deans List but you know what I had to do and it's something Dr B said earlier I had to learn how to ask for help I had to reach out and take advantage of the resources that were there for me so it's important that I recognize that there's a life outside of the classroom I recognize that life has curved balls I recognize that it is complex but I am proud to work with dedicated faculty and staff who understand this and are committed to your success we create a space for students to fail by also creating an infrastructure to help them get back up again that is a part of the lesson we want you to take out of here so if you see failure looming if you're scar scared if you're uncomfortable you're trying to figure out who you are be willing to ask for help and be willing to reach out for the resources that are there for you last week I had the privilege of attending the School of Nursing Penning ceremony and one of the student speakers reminded of us of something profound she said the world is better because this version of us exists oh don't they give you the gooes I'm all about the goosies today right that might need to be my next tattoo so let me hear you and I want you to hear me very clear about this each and every one of you deserves to be here you belong here and this version of our world of our campus of our University is better because you are here each and every one of you earlier in the program you heard that our faculty are our superpower but you all are the community superpower you have the power to show care to each other to encourage each other to show up and do our best to make sure that we show up each and every day you have the power to make this version of our world better the poet Wendel Barry said it once about Community a community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place that we inhabit is shared that the people who share the place Define and limit the possibility of each other's lives it is the knowledge that people have of each other their concern for each other their trust in each other and the freedom with what they do and come and go among themselves each day I wake up so grateful grateful to do this job and to work at this institution so I want to issue a collective charge to each and every one of us faculty staff most importantly our students and our dignitaries and guests who are here today I need you to stand on your feet please it's almost over but here's the for audience participation I'm going need somebody who's got a good phone to come up here and take a um because I'm going to put this out today I because I want you all to see this and remind yourself each and every day about it I know uh you gonna do it for me thank you Joe wherever you want to be okay so I'm going to ask you to recite after me because this is important and you're going to get this back to me on I'm going give it to you on social media I'm going send it to you somehow because I want you to remember it everybody in this space right now recite after me Nevada State University is a special place because I am here State University is a special place because I am here we are in community with each other we are in community with each other there is a mutuality to our existence there is a mutuality to our existence it is a sacred and profound trust it is a sacred and profound trust in this University in this University in this community in this community in this mission in this Mission I belong here I belong here because of this I will work hard because of this I will work hard I will celebrate my journey even the hard part I will Cate my journey even the hard Parts I will Avail myself of the resources in this community I will Avail myself of the resources in this community I will work to protect this space we co-inhabit I will to protab I am a scorpion I am a scorpion I am bold I am bold I am great I am great I am Nevada state I am Nevada state I am Nevada state I am Nevada state thank you all so much we're going to conclude today's program doing something that I like to do most two things that I love most one is gratitude and the second is music all right so I want to thank each and every one of you for being here I want to thank our team who put this together and special events those who work with my office I want to thank all of our first year student programming teams who do the work our student affairs team everyone who is a part of making today possible thank you for showing up thank you for carrying the water I want you all to remember that this is going to be a hell of a year here and we're going to have a great time together learning and growing and doing all the things that happen at Nevada State University so let's end on our fight St where is Miss Melody Miss Melody you want to join us are you want to bring us out with our alma mater I feel like Oprah when I did that Miss Melody you got to call you got to car no I don't that sound good though but I wanted to be open for a minute all right Miss Melody you going to get us going and then we're going to let you all go out for the rest of the day thank you all so much what a surprise hello surprise a surprise all right in the land of [Music] Nevada scorpion all for our country is our and batt to succeed all fight with NADA sa Pride we will win with the spirit of the West our side we will climb scorpion withs that are B and there ra and I hope you all are as excited as we are to have you on campus we are going to do the recessional out so please stay seated while we recess out and then you can be on your way thank you so much for being here [Music] work [Music] J [Music]