The Panther Marching Band plays. The Eastern cheer team is dressed to impress in new uniforms. Lantz Gymnasium is spruced up with banners. This is no sporting event, however. Eastern is welcoming the incoming freshmen and transfer students.

The Fall Convocation took place Thursday in the Lantz Gymnasium, where the muted buzz of new students introducing themselves to one another hung over the room at the start of the ceremony.

Doug Bock, speech communication professor and this year’s faculty laureate, delivered the convocation address, with Student Body President Hugh O’Hara and several other faculty members offering tidbits of advice to Eastern’s newest scholars.

Blair Lord, vice president for academic affairs; Shirley Stewart, interim vice president for student affairs; and Robert Fischer, associate professor of biological sciences, all spoke briefly to encourage students to actively engage in their learning, get involved in organizations and have the determination to finish their college education.

“As of today, when your parents leave, life is up to you,” O’Hara said. “The choice is yours.”

Bock promised his audience of new students one thing in his address: they would be very changed in the four years to come.

“There are obviously two educations,” Bock quoted essayist/historian James Truslow Adams. “One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.”

Focusing on the latter, Bock said students would have the opportunity during their college careers to learn about traditions of the past, their sense of self and their concept of others.

Bock told students that by getting an education at Eastern, “You will get to see how a variety of people led their lives, and then you will get to decide how you want to live your life.”

Bock reminded his audience that they are the future.

“I hope you take away the vision to see what must be done to help others, the wisdom to see what can be done to help others and the courage to do what must be done to help others,” he said.

Bock also encouraged students to focus on small tasks one at a time rather than being overwhelmed by the vast responsibilities of a college student and world citizen.

“The secret to success is concentration,” he said.

Following the ceremony, students were escorted to an event called Playfair in the Student Recreation Center where they had to opportunity to meet one another.

Lindsay Arnswald, a freshmen elementary education major, expressed excitement about the new beginning of her college career. She said she was impacted by Bock’s emphasis on getting involved during the college years.

“Along with freedom comes responsibility,” she said.