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By Jessica Pate
Staff Writer
New and returning students to Barton College found many activities to welcome them back for the beginning of the college’s 114th in August.
The new school year began with “Welcome Weekend.”
Welcome weekend is a chance for new students to become familiar with their new environment before returning students
return to campus.
Welcome weekend began with freshman moving into their dorms. The weekend consisted of activities for students to get to know and bond with their classmates.
Along with informative meetings about services offered by Barton, a club fair was held to show students the clubs on campus that they could get involved in.
Welcome Back Barton Day was held on Aug. 17. After the first day of classes concluded, students gathered in center ca
mpus to learn about Wilson business from Wilson that they may not be familiar with.
Local businesses set up information booths about the services they offer to students. Vendors included banks, drugstores, clothing stores, churches, restaurants, and sport teams located in the area.
Along with a lot of free giveaways there were games and free food from Wilson restaurants.
Senior Natalie Pellegrino said Welcome Back Barton Day is a good event for freshman to see what is in the area and a good way to let people know about events going on in the area.
There were also several drawings held for gift cards and one held for a student to have his or her books paid for one semester.
Sophomore Tyquan Davis-Reid said it was good to see all the new faces on campus.
Greek organizations also held different events throughout the first couple weeks to recruit new and returning students who are interested in joining a sorority or fraternity.
Opening Convocation was held on Aug. 26 in Howard Chapel.
This event is a tradition at Barton College that marks the opening of a new academic year.
Dr. Doug Searcy, new president of Barton, welcomed everyone to the event. Keisha Parker, Student Government Association president welcomed students.
The featured speaker for Opening Convocation was Dr. Barrett Martin, a 2009 Barton graduate who earned a degree in Biology.
While he was a student, he was catcher on the school’s baseball team.
After attending Barton College, Martin moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to attend optometry school.
He is an optometrist in Garner and Fuquay-Varina, NC. In his address to students, he encouraged students to enjoy their Barton experience.
He told the story of Barton College winning the 2007 NCAA Division II basketball championship game while he was a student a highlight was seeing his friends and the people he ate lunch with win the championship game.
He also shared a story about being a baseball player and accidently grabbing his coach’s bagged lunch, which had two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in it, instead of the usual turkey or ham sandwiches.
He apologized to his former coach about the incident. Convocation concluded with those in attendance singing Barton’s Alma Mater.
