About New Student Convocation

New Student Convocation is the official beginning of a new student's entry into Cleveland State University's Community. New Student Convocation is an hour-long ceremony designed to establish an academic connection between freshmen and Cleveland State University. New Student Convocation fulfills this purpose by ceremoniously recognizing each New Student for having accepted the offer to join the Cleveland State University Community. The program communicates to students their roles both as people who learn from others and as people who contribute to the vitality of the university. Held in Waetjen Auditorium in the Music & Communications Building (Marked MU on campus map), New Student Convocation provides students with an opportunity to gather with their classmates, recognize the size and strength of their class, and join the Cleveland State academic community through a major campus event that parallels the joyous and meaningful commencement ceremony that will mark their graduation only a few years in the future.

Along with formally welcoming students to the beginning of their academic career at Cleveland State University, New Student Convocation will recognize the impact the freshman make on the community of learners, which includes faculty and staff. With all the freshman assembled in one place, the students will gain a sense of the size, strength, and identity of their class and provide them with an important connection to one another and to the University.

As the University welcomes students at New Student Convocation, it also desires to instill in students the value of their education and the significance of their inclusion in the Cleveland State community throughout their academic career. New Student Convocation provides students with the opportunity to begin their college career in the same, significant, positive manner in which they end their college career. Both are significant academic milestones at the beginning and the end of our students' undergraduate experience.

Families Invited

Families are invited to attend New Student Convocation and celebrate their student's entry into Cleveland State University. Seating is not assigned and family members are encouraged to sit with their students as a way of symbolizing the support you have provided your student to get to this important accomplishment. Signs and ushers in Waetjen Auditorium in the Music & Communications Building will provide directions to freshmen and their families.