The Office of Undergraduate Education
University Convocation
University Convocation is the official welcome for all incoming freshman and transfer students. University of Texas at Dallas faculty and administrators will don academic regalia to formally bring together the next class of academic minds. University Convocation is the first step in a student’s academic journey at UT Dallas that will culminate with graduation and recognition of hard work and academic integrity.
Taken from the Latin word meaning "calling together", a convocation generally is an assembly of the members of a group. The University Convocation event is the official recognition of the entry of incoming students into the UT Dallas student body.
Convocation Attire
Faculty and administrators will wear their academic regalia for University Convocation. Incoming students should wear their University Convocation T-shirts, distributed at student orientation during the summer. Your University Convocation T-shirt will serve as your meal ticket for the celebration after the event. Additionally, students should wear clean pants, shorts, or skirts appropriate for both an official event and for the summer heat.
Fall 2012 Convocation Keynote Speaker
The keynote speaker for the Fall 2012 University Convocation is Professor Jean Twenge. Jean M. Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, is the author of more than 80 scientific publications and the book Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled — and More Miserable Than Ever Before (Free Press, 2006). Accounts of her research have appeared in Time, Newsweek, USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, and The Washington Post, and she has been featured on Today, NBC Nightly News, Fox and Friends, Dateline NBC, and National Public Radio's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Day to Day, in addition to numerous talk radio and local TV appearances. She received a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1993 and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1998. She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband and daughters.
Post Convocation Celebration
After University Convocation, faculty, staff, and upperclassmen will gather to welcome incoming students into the broader community. Students should process out of the Activity Center to the center of the mall for an outdoor grill experience sponsored by Student Affairs.