Student convocation is traditionally an event held for new students, but this year the Office of Student Development and Orientation decided to change that.

Tuesday’s event was open to both incoming freshman as well as returning students, and it was also the first year that it was held in D.L. Ligon Coliseum to accommodate one of the university’s largest incoming fall classes.

Assistant Director of the Office of Student Development and Orientation Kevin Bazner said returning students were invited because socializing was the main emphasis of convocation.

“It’s important to connect the entering students in with the existing students,” Bazner said. “That’s what this event is all about.”

Bazner said moving the event to the coliseum was needed because of the expected size of the audience.

“Previous years we’ve always been in Fain auditorium,” Bazner said, “so rather than only being able to seat about 420 students, we can seat up to 750 in just the bleachers alone.”

One hour before convocation started at 7 p.m., students gathered at Sunwatcher Plaza to socialize and hear announcements about Greek life and other opportunities relevant to freshman.

Bazner said pre-convocation was a joint effort by the housing department and dining services to gather students before taking them to the main event at the coliseum.

“Pre-convocation party is really an opportunity to catch students as they’re coming out of the student center and make some announcements about upcoming events and activities in the upcoming weeks,” Bazner said.

Interfraternity Council President Taylor Duval spoke at pre-convocation, encouraging new students to get involved on campus.

“One of the biggest decisions you have to make in your first few weeks of college is about whether or not you want to get involved,” Duval said. “Getting involved can be one of the best things you do for your college career.”

Cheerleaders then led the gathering crowd of students through the streets, cheering their way to the coliseum where a video was shown before campus president Jesse Rogers took the stage to greet students and introduce the keynote speaker, Jessica Gendron Williams.

Williams, the vice president of Phired Up Productions, an education firm dedicated to helping students make the most of their college experience, said she was brought to convocation to speak about social excellence, a term coined by Phired Up to describe “being open, kind and bold.”

“We talk a lot about the importance of engaging with people face-to-face because it’s the one thing that you need to be successful in life,” Williams said. “It’s also how you maximize your college career.”

Williams said inviting returning students to convocation provided a special opportunity to let new students interact with upperclassmen.

“This is one of the first times that a campus has invited returning students, which I think is really cool,” Williams said. “It will be a great way for new students to meet each other and for returning students to meet the new students, too.”

Williams said her speech about social excellence applies to new and old students alike because they all fall prey to distractions like smart phones instead of engaging with our peers.

“We spend a lot of time with those square little pieces of technology that we love so much, looking down at them and hardly looking up at the people around us,” Williams said. “It applies universally.”

Engineering freshman Debossha Christians said she thought it was mandatory that she attend convocation, but she ended up enjoying the keynote address.

“I liked it a lot, and the lady that spoke was really funny,” Christians said. “She had some jokes.”

Kinesiology senior Elijah Mire said he was excited to see Williams speak because he enjoyed a speech by Phired Up at a fraternity event he once attended.

“Phired Up spoke at one of our events and they did a great job, they really know what they’re talking about,” Mire said. “I enjoyed it and learned a lot because I didn’t go for my freshman year.”

Bazner said the convocation was a success as long as students learned to be more social.

“Students should take a message that it’s okay to talk to strangers,” Bazner said. “It’s okay to engage in conversation with individuals and find something in common.”