Opening Convo

Yesterday was just plain great. I may not have done much homework, or had any classes, but I was happy to be alive nonetheless.

W&M President Gene Nichol hosted the Opening Convocation yesterday on the back steps of the ancient Wren Building. It was built in 1695 — 65 years before Thomas Jefferson first attended class here and 93 years before George Washington became chancellor of William & Mary.

One of the better speakers was Michael Powell, a W&M alum whose work as FCC chairman I admit I detested. Nevertheless, he spoke without notes about the new generation of "YouTubians" who, having developed an "extra appendage" the rest of us know as the cell phone, may in fact have evolved into a new species. His talk produced a lot of laughs from the incoming class of undergraduates, who put away their appendages long enough to listen to him.

But the most unexpected and enthralling part of the convocation was the walk through the Wren Building. As we entered the back of the building, my friend Lindsey and I started to hear loud cheers coming from the other side. As we got halfway through, we discovered what the commotion was: the bulk of the W&M student body, thousands of them, cheering wildly and applauding each and every new student as we walked, one by one, down the front steps. Each of us took a turn shaking Nichol's hand, then descended into the mass of humanity where high-fives and slaps on the back awaited. 

I soon realized what an event this would be for me, as I'm still using two crutches to get around. I paused to set one of them down to shake Nichol's hand, and he wished me luck. As I readied to descend the 7 or 8 steps, several W&M upperclassmen ventured into the middle of the sidewalk in front of me, waving their hands upward so that the cheers and applause would be even louder for me. Clearly this was going to take a while, and they didn't want the excitement to die. I could only look down at my feet — I had to make sure I didn't fall — but I'm sure my face was red with humble appreciation. I couldn't do many high-fives as I proceeded through the crowd, but I got plenty of pats on the back and a whole lot of cheers, just like all the other entering students at W&M.

Last night a large group of us gathered to celebrate the end of our first week (yes, that's two nights in a row, but who's counting?). A fine week it was.