Convocation: Better and Dr. Wilson
Convocation 2012 Response Paper Quam Onigbanjo As students poured inside of the auditorium, and the Morgan State alumni and faculty made their entrance, the first convocation of the 2012 school year began. The air was filled with peaceful music from the choir, as well as buzz of noise from the crowd. The aisles and staircases were packed with students trying to get seated near their friends. After most of the students were situated and the choir stopped singing, Dr. David Wilson began his introductory speech. Dr.
Wilson began with greeting the new and or returning students and faculty. Then, Wilson starts to get into the depth of his speech by talking about how Morgan can, and is expanding into a generally better place. Wilson speaks of the newly built CBETS Building and about plans to build the Earl G. Graves business building. Wilson also talks about starting to improve the Jenkins building and softball fields. As Dr. Wilson spoke about the physical improvements that are planned for the campus, an aura of excitement came about the crowd.
The part that seemed to excite the crowd the most was the announcement of the demolition of Montebello and the Soper library in order to create a new building that would take over Montebello’s duties. A general sense of pride filled the auditorium. The idea that Morgan was on its way to obtaining a better campus pleased everyone. As, a small HBCU in the middle of Baltimore city, Morgan’s campus does not compare to that of UMD College Park, which many students at Morgan would prefer to go to.
However, it is clear that as Morgan is expanding into an even more beautiful campus, students and staff will be more confident in their school and will be encouraged to represent Morgan with some pride. As, the president continued his speech, the auditorium remained quiet with all eyes focused on him. Dr. Wilson then started talking about respect and conduct. This topic was guareanteed to come up as Morgan has been in the news is the past weeks due to a shooting in the student center. Dr.
Wilson made a general message that was meant for everyone when he says to “respect yourself with the highest dignity and don’t accept things that go against who you are”, implying that you should have respect for yourself and one another in order to create a better environment for everyone. Due to the events in the past few weeks, Morgan’s name has been in the news for very bad reasons. These reasons were due to students at Morgan involved in murder and cannibalism, as well as stabbings and shootings.
Although these events show a negative image to the outside world about Morgan State University, it is understood that Morgan is a school that is advancing and on its way to being a prestigious college. As a closing remark, Dr. Wilson wanted his staff and students to know that everyone should conduct themselves in the highest manner. This is to ensure that unfortunate events such as the ones that have occurred in the recent past do not occur again and that we as a university can restore our name contrary to what media portrays us.
He closes his speech with encouraging his audience to find a deep respect for knowledge, learning, and education, as these should be the primary goals of any institution. After the choir sang the Alma Matter, a sense of inspiration seemed to have spread through the room as people were exiting the auditorium. The President has sent his message for the 2012 school year, which was to make Morgan a better place together.
