2026 New Student Convocation

Good afternoon, Lions and Lion Families! Welcome to Hank’s House, the home of LMU Basketball and Women’s Volleyball! Let's again thank the Athletics Department and everyone involved in bringing convocation indoors. 

Students, I’m sure you’ve received a lot of advice over the past few months, and today in particular, on navigating college and succeeding at LMU. Here at this convocation, we’ve gathered representatives from the student body, the faculty, and the administration to provide the proverbial icing on the cake of advice and words of wisdom.

But first, I invite you to look around for a moment. Seriously. Look around.

Somewhere in this pavilion may be the person who becomes your best friend; someone who completely changes the way you see the world. Someone here may introduce you to the subject that becomes your life’s work. And statistically, I suppose, someone here may eventually become your spouse. Parents, I saw some of you suddenly paying much closer attention.

Today marks the beginning of an extraordinary journey. And as president of LMU, I have the great privilege of officially welcoming you into this special community and adding to all the advice you’ve received so far. But don’t worry. I don’t have a top ten list. Just three nuggets, all drawn from the wisdom of LMU’s remarkable religious traditions.

From the Society of Jesus comes a commitment to finding God in all things and becoming people for and with others. From the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary comes a commitment to education that advances the dignity of every person and works so that all may have life. And from the Congregation of St. Joseph comes a beautiful and deceptively challenging invitation: to love and serve the dear neighbor without distinction.

Without distinction. Think about what that means. The person who looks like you. The person who doesn’t. The person who agrees with you. The person who doesn’t. Even, and this may be the ultimate test of your LMU education, the person who takes the last available washing machine and then leaves their clothes in it for three hours.

I just described particular ways that our community understands and lives its mission, otherwise known as charisms. At LMU, these charisms will help form each of you. And I want to suggest, as my first piece of advice, that you lean into this mission as you ask the hard questions. 

Look, you’re here at LMU because you have already been very good at answering questions on exams, quizzes, and writing assignments. Well, one of the great gifts of a university like LMU is that we will challenge you to become just as good at asking questions. Our Jesuit and Marymount traditions invite you to approach the world with curiosity, to examine it critically, to encounter it compassionately, and to discern how you are called to respond. The questions that shape an educated mind will also form the conscience, imagination, and heart. That is what we mean by educating the whole person.

What is worth knowing? What responsibility do I have to another human being? And ultimately, who am I becoming? These are questions an LMU education teaches you to ask. And they, and their answers, will inform the choices that you make.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, understood that our choices form us. Every day, you will make scores of them. The Jesuit practice of discernment teaches us to question what is happening within us as we make those choices. Where do I experience joy? Where do I experience restlessness? What am I being drawn toward? Over time, those questions guide our choices and can lead us toward an even deeper question, “What is my vocation?”

A vocation asks, “Who am I called to become, and whom will my life serve?” That question connects beautifully with our Marymount tradition, which asks us to serve our neighbors so that all may have life. Imagine carrying that sentiment into your time here at LMU. Does the technology you design help people flourish? Does the business you build honor human dignity? Does the art you create reveal something meaningful about the human experience? Does the story you tell illuminate truth?

So number one, ask hard questions. 

Number two, seek out the dear neighbor. Your education will be diminished if you spend four years surrounding yourself only with people who already think like you. So find new spaces, new communities, and be curious. Ask someone, “How did you come to believe that?” Ask, “What am I missing?” Ask, “What has your experience taught you?” 

And then listen. That’s my third nugget of advice. Listening is increasingly a revolutionary act. Everyone has a take. Everyone has a platform. Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is become genuinely interested in another human being. I think you’ll discover that the dear neighbor has something to teach you.

Ask the hard questions, seek out the dear neighbor, and listen. Simple right? Well, trust me, it’ll take practice.

Fortunately, at LMU, our deans, faculty, staff, religious leaders, coaches, mentors, Cabinet members, Trustees, Regents, and alumni are all eager to accompany you on your educational journey. Let’s take a moment to thank them in advance. 

You know who else we should thank? They are sitting right behind you: your families for all the support that got you to this moment. Please turn around as we join you in thanking your families! 

Lions, I could not be more excited for you–for what you will learn, for what you will teach us, and most of all, for the person you will become.