{"id":8360,"date":"2019-08-27T01:04:03","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T05:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2019\/09\/12\/furman-celebrates-start-of-2019-20-academic-year-with-opening-convocation\/"},"modified":"2022-11-06T18:33:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-06T23:33:28","slug":"furman-celebrates-start-of-2019-20-academic-year-with-opening-convocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/furman-celebrates-start-of-2019-20-academic-year-with-opening-convocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Furman celebrates start of 2019-20 academic year with opening Convocation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once a homeless high school dropout, LaDavia Drummond Just \u201902 today possesses four college degrees and is a Fulbright Scholar<\/a> teaching pharmacology to second-year medical students at Uganda Christian University School in Kampala, Uganda. That is thanks in no small part to an experience at Furman that gave her a feeling of belonging and instilled a sense of empowerment she still carries, Just told the incoming Class of 2023 during her opening Convocation address Monday in McAlister Auditorium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was embraced and taken in as family here at Furman,\u201d Just said. \u201cI know it will be the same for each of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just and her sister were raised by a single mother who suffered from chronic illness and an unrelated physical disability, and the pressure of being a caregiver forced Just to leave Greenville High. Their mother died when Just was a junior in high school, leaving the children homeless, and Just never would have even applied to Furman had her high school physics teacher, Tommy Edwards, not told her he believed she was smart enough to go.<\/p>\n

But that encouragement followed by the support she received at Furman \u2013 including being allowed to stay on campus when it was closed for holidays because she had nowhere else to go \u2013 led to Just earning a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and embarking on a career as a clinical pharmacist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI arrived on campus very much an orphan in spirit,\u201d she said. \u201cI graduated from here feeling empowered, and that empowerment has not fizzled out \u2026 I went from dropping out of high school to serving in Uganda as a Fulbright Scholar. This beautiful campus is where much, much of that transformation took place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furman President Elizabeth Davis emphasized Furman\u2019s commitment to truth and inclusiveness during her remarks at the university\u2019s celebration of the 2019-20 academic year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that spirit, we\u2019ve been taking a hard look these past two years at the university\u2019s past connections to slavery as part of the Seeking Abraham Project<\/a>,\u201d she said. \u201cWe value truth and inclusiveness. As such, the telling of the Furman story needed to be corrected to more fully acknowledge how our wonderful institution came to be. It\u2019s our hope that we can learn from our past and bridge that with our commitment to growing and enhancing diversity in all its forms and creating a more inclusive community where each of us are supported as we continue to learn and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Beth

Beth Pontari, associate provost for engaged learning and professor of psychology, delivers an address at Monday’s opening Convocation.<\/p><\/div>\n

Beth Pontari, associate provost for engaged learning and professor of psychology, gave the first address. She emphasized engaged learning’s place as a foundation of The Furman Advantage and shared three characteristics essential to being an engaged learner with the first-year students. They are:<\/p>\n