Following a Tradition

This week brings about a yearly tradition that is possibly the oldest existing Dominican tradition, Shield Day. This very special ceremony will be held Tuesday, September 12. Shield Day begins with the Mass of the Holy Spirit which is the official blessing for a safe school year for all us students and DU faculty and staff. Following Mass, is the Procession of Flags which shows how diverse our University really is. A flag is carried from any county that our students are representing. This year, we are expecting at least 55 flags, not counting any of the flags from the United States! After the Procession of Flags, we have the actual Shield Day activities and Convocation.

At Shield Day, the senior class officially welcomes the freshman class to Dominican. As the senior classes means of welcoming, they present the freshman class with a shield. On the shield are words of wisdom that are expected to guide the freshmen through their four years at Dominican. My class shield reads, “We grow from our roots.”

The Convocation is when an honorary degree is bestowed upon a person from the outside. I have no idea who is receiving the honorary degree this year.

Besides all the activities and history of Shield Day, lots of students love Shield Day because our Tuesday morning classes are cancelled so that everyone has the opportunity to attend the festivities. After Shield Day, our cafeteria catering company, Bon Appitit serves a deliciously amazing international lunch. Last year, Bon Appitit served foods from Mexico, Italy, and Japan, I think. (I couldn’t remember where that other food was from).

On the recent front, this was a busy weekend for Dominican. Our Men’s and Women’s soccer teams played Hope International University. Sadly, we lost both games but it wasn’t conference play so it doesn’t matter ;). We also hosted an amazing special guest lecturer, Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner. I had never seen Angelico Concert Hall that full and Angelico Concert Hall seats 800 people!!!!

Besides Shield Day, this week kicks off a long weekend of Dominican Athletics. Our Women’s team will serve against Williams Jessup University on Friday and Simpson University on Saturday. Soccer’s back in action as the Men host Fresno Pacific University on Friday and join the women to face-off against Northwest Christian College. This is going to be an action packed weekend!

Stay cool, Lets Go Penguins!

Chilly