������Ƶ

Get involved. Find your community. Be flexible with your career path.

Seated inside the JMA Wireless Dome for their first official gathering as Syracuse University students, more than 3,600 first-year and transfer students heard that core message Thursday morning from New Student Convocation student speaker Elyas A. Layachi ’27.

Layachi, a double major in mathematics in the  and inclusive adolescent education in the , told the new students that he thought his Orange path would be “linear”—a degree in aerospace engineering, an internship at NASA and a space exploration job before graduation.

But early in his first semester, a professor’s question about his interests and passions sent him toward a new academic course, one that led to research teams, clubs, religious organizations and community service.

“Changing majors, because one professor was willing to ask me an honest question, changed the trajectory of my time here and ultimately of my life,” Layachi told the crowd. “Every student in the Dome today has something powerful before them: the opportunity to learn and grow at this amazing institution.”

Those incoming students arrive from every corner of the map: 45 states, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico; 19 Indigenous nations and 55 countries.

Resist the Urge to Seek Comfort in This New Beginning

, a member of the Syracuse University community for more than two decades, began his remarks by noting a shared trait: the students were new to Syracuse, and Chancellor Haynie was new to his current leadership role.

While it can be easy for students to seek comfort in the familiar during times of change, Chancellor Haynie recommended employing the opposite approach, telling students to resist being “pulled toward wanting some assurance that the unfamiliar will quickly become familiar, and that the road ahead will smooth itself out.”

“At Syracuse, our obligation is to arm our students with the tools to think clearly under pressure, to lead with conviction while remaining open to the fact that they may be wrong, and to act with purpose even when the path is anything but clear,” Chancellor Haynie said.

Haynie pointed to Ethan, an orientation leader and a dual major in business and communications, as an example. Over the summer, Ethan told Chancellor Haynie that he was enrolling in a course where he’d learn to sing and play guitar, not to advance his major, but to “force himself out of his comfort zone,” Haynie said.

“New students, be like Ethan,” Haynie said. “Discomfort is where character is built. Discomfort is where leaders are made.”

‘This Window Will Only Be Open for a Brief Time’

As he stepped to the podium, brought with him a stuffed Otto the Orange, “the best mascot in all of higher education,” which elicited applause from the audience.

Referring to their time on campus as a “metaphorical window” that “will only be open for a very brief time,” Groves urged new students to take intriguing new classes, meet extraordinary people and always extend respect to everyone on campus.

“I want you to think about the kind of community you want to be part of and then act in a way that helps achieve that goal,” Groves said.

‘Determined to Make Their Mark on the World’

, vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer, reminded the incoming class that there is no such thing as a typical Syracuse University student.

While each student possesses differing academic and co-curricular interests and personal and professional goals, Syracuse University students “love their University in ways that are rare among college students” and are “bold, ambitious and determined to make their mark on the world.”

“You are bringing a personality, background, abilities, perspectives, interests and dreams that we’ve never encountered before,” Agnew said. “You’ll forge a path here that is your own, and you will leave a unique and extraordinary mark on the University through the life you create here.”

To conclude the convocation, the new students recited the charge, which dates back to 1871, and sang the alma mater, following the Orange tradition by swaying as the lyrics were sung.