Bluefield College
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
 
Student News
Bluefield College Formally Inducts New Students during Matriculation Ceremony  (August 20, 2008)
    Bluefield College formally welcomed its new transfer and freshmen students to the start of the 2008-2009 academic year and officially inducted the group into the BC student body during a Matriculation Ceremony on campus, Saturday, August 16.
  View a web photo gallery from the Matriculation Ceremony.
   
 
  BC's new freshmen class for fall 2008.
   
 
  President David Olive (left) presents a tassel to a new BC student during the school's Matriculation Ceremony.
    With just days remaining before the start of the new academic year, President David Olive greeted the new students, their parents, family and friends to the traditional inauguration ceremony. The president thanked the parents for their efforts in preparing the students for higher education. He also spoke about the caring faculty and staff available on campus to help the students have the best educational experience possible.
    "We hope that your time at Bluefield College will be ever important to you in life," said Dr. Olive to the new students, "and that while here you learn to be innovative in how you think. And, when you leave this place, you will become a transformational leader that impacts this world."
    Professor Thomas Kinney shared additional remarks, asking the students to ponder where they are and where they are going. The college experience, he said, is like that of a voyage, and while the Matriculation Ceremony was a time to think about the beginning of that voyage, Dr. Kinney encouraged the students to think about the end.
    "Only you can determine where this voyage ends," he told the students. "You are the master of your own fate. Decide today where this journey is going to end. Decide that it will end with graduation, with your diploma."
    As part of the induction program, the new students participated in the reading of a "pledge of commitment," calling for their "best effort" toward their academic studies and a commitment to "strive to become all that God intends [them] to be."
    Joining the students in the responsive reading, parents and family members pledged their "love and support" for their children as they embark on this next phase of life, while BC faculty and staff promised to model "mature Christian character" and to provide "the highest quality college education and experience" possible for the students.
    While the Matriculation Ceremony marked the beginning of the higher education process for the students, it also resembled in a symbolic way graduation. To that end, Dr. Olive and Dr. Greg Kerr, interim vice president for academic affairs, presented commencement tassels to the students to serve as a visual reminder throughout their studies of the goal in which they seek.
    Dedicated to being Virginia's premier Christ-centered liberal arts college, preparing critical thinkers and transformational leaders to impact a changing world, Bluefield College offers a challenging, innovative academic and co-curricular experience within a climate of diverse Christian tradition. In covenant with the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the college is committed to developing students' potential through academic excellence and the integration of faith, the liberal arts, career-oriented programs, and service to God and the global community.
    Located in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to offer baccalaureate degrees in 22 majors of study, including business, forensic science, graphic communication, teacher education and Christian studies, Bluefield College is touted for its classroom technology, affordability, personalized instruction, and learning settings on the mission field and in countries abroad.