More than 900 students and parents packed Cardinal Arena and overflowed into Floyd Theatre for the annual Welcome Week event.
All of the students received a UofL baseball cap and were told by UofL President James Ramsey to be ready to trade it in for a different cap, a mortarboard, in four years at the graduation ceremony.
The idea, according to the president and provost, is to give new students a symbol of their first days on campus along with a reminder of their goal–a college degree.
Freshman Troy Sterling, from Independence, Kentucky, said he sees his cap as something that will follow me through my college career. If it’s really worn out, it means I’ve put it to good use. And freshman Johnnie Caldwell from Bardstown, Kentucky, called her cap a symbol of motivation and hope that I’ll graduate.
Ramsey, Willihnganz and new student government president Monali Haldankar addressed the students at the convocation. Haldankar told her fellow students, You are now part of the Cardinal family.