The first members of the class arrived earlier in the week. Forty-one incoming students participated in FIRST (Freshman Involved in Reflective Service Together). The FIRST participants engaged in several service projects at Scranton-area non-profit organizations throughout the week, including United Neighborhood Center, St. Paul’s/St. Clare’s Parishes, the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania, the Bellevue Center and North Scranton Head Start.

        At the New Student Convocation on Saturday, Aug. 21, University of Scranton President Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., challenged the incoming students to “(d)iscover your vocation here—the intersection of your passion and talent with someone else’s greatest need. Let God write these Latin words in your heart: intellectum valde ama: love your own mind mightily, but never for its own sake.”

        At the convocation, the freshmen witnessed the introduction of their Class of 2014 Banner, as presented by Rita Dileo ’11, student body president, and took a student pledge, led by Michael Molitoris ’11, student body vice president. The freshmen were welcomed by John Lanahan, Esq. ’84, president of The University of Scranton Alumni Society.

       Also at the convocation, best-selling author Stephen Kinzer received an honorary degree from Scranton. He is the author of “A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and The Man Who Dreamed It,” the book read by the freshmen.

        “The opportunity that’s awaiting you here is something that’s unique in life,” said Kinzer, who advised the students not to look at life with the idea that that they know everything. “Look at that course catalog as though you were looking at a collection of jewels…. You’re here to learn, you’re here to make friends, but what we are really here for, in a larger sense, is to learn how to live a moral life.”

        Kinzer’s other books include “Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua” and “All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.”

        An award-winning foreign correspondent who worked for The New York Times for more than 20 years, Kinzer discussed “A Thousands Hills” with members of the Class of 2014 on Sunday afternoon. The book examines the life and vision of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, a Tutsi refugee who organized the military movement that helped end genocide in his country and has since led a program of reconstruction in his country.

        The country of Rwanda will be the focus of the entire University community through a series of lectures, class discussions and events conducted during the 2010/2011 academic year.