USU to Host Luminary on Aug. 25 for 2023 Incoming Class
Students hold lanterns during the 2022 Connections Luminary ceremony on the Logan campus Quad. Students at Statewide Campuses, including Blanding and Price, will participate in simultaneous ceremonies connected by webcast. (Photo Credit: USU/Levi Sim)
Utah State University will welcome its incoming new students at the Connections Luminary on Friday, Aug. 25.
At this annual tradition, students enrolled in USU’s first-year experience course, USU 1010, will each light a lantern shaped like the tower of Old Main and engage in a symbolic procession to commence their USU experience.
At the Logan campus, students process from the Spectrum to the Quad, the opposite route they will take during their future commencement ceremonies. Luminary processions also occur at the Eastern and Blanding campuses, each celebrating and highlighting the unique characteristics of USU’s residential campuses.
“From the start, our new students will think of themselves as future USU graduates,” said Harrison Kleiner, a philosophy professor who oversees the Connections program. “As they commence their USU experience, the Connections course links students to faculty and peer mentors and prepares them for success both at the university and beyond.”
The processions culminate in an address from President Elizabeth Cantwell, speaking to students live in Logan and via video feed with the Eastern and Blanding campuses. Cantwell will welcome the students to USU and celebrate them with another unique Aggie tradition, lighting the A blue on Old Main tower. Eastern and Blanding will also light their versions of the A blue at that time.
Faculty, staff and the community are invited to attend one of the Luminary processions to welcome the incoming class. Below are details for the Connections Luminary events on the three campuses.
Logan Campus
Arrive on the east side of the Quad at 8 p.m. The events in the Spectrum will be broadcast to a large screen on the Quad. Lanterns will be distributed for attendees to hold as they cheer the new students along the processional route before listening to Cantwell’s speech and lighting the A on Old Main tower blue.
Blanding Campus
Arrive at the Friendship Amphitheater at 7 p.m. Lanterns will be distributed, and students and attendees will process to the BAEC for speakers and cultural performances before listening to Cantwell’s speech and lighting the block A blue around 10 p.m.
Eastern Campus
Arrive at 8:30 p.m. in the Geary Events Center. After a short program, lanterns will be distributed, and students and attendees will process to the Fountain Field. The event will conclude in “the pit” with Cantwell’s speech and the Eastern campus version of the lighting of the A blue around 10 p.m.
People holding lights form a giant A during the 2022 Connections Luminary on the USU Logan campus Quad. (Photo Credit: USU/Andrew Diamond)
Students holding lights walk from the Spectrum to the Quad during the 2022 Luminary on the USU Logan campus. (Photo Credit: USU/Andrew Diamond)
CONTACT
Sierra Law
Parent and Family Coordinator
Student Orientation & Transition Services
435-797-7557
sierra.law@usu.edu
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