At Westminster College's convocation Saturday, speaker Derick Dailey gave new students a strategy to be successful in college and life.
The group of 216 new students from 12 states and seven countries gathered in Champ Auditorium.
"You will be doing your own laundry real soon, figuratively and literally, and I encourage you to do it with excellence," Dailey told them. "No matter how mundane, do it with integrity. No matter how obscure, do it with overwhelming character. No matter how tired you get, do it with pride."
He exhorted them to "love this college enough to push it to be the best it can be," "love one another enough to engage in intellectual debate respectfully and with humility" and "love your country and world enough to resist every temptation to divide, every temptation to tear down, and every temptation to destroy."
He reminded the crowd of the great example just witnessed with the "young people like you standing together in cities and small towns across the country, reaffirming their commitment to justice and equality" in the face of the recent tragedy and hatred in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Dailey also discussed how his mentor, Professor John Langton, taught him how to think about what an actual situation is, what the thinker wants it to be and how to move that case from "what is to what ought to be." His solution was laundry and love.
Dailey, who recently graduated from the Fordham University in New York City, has taken a position as an associate with the law firm of Dowd Bennett, LLP in St. Louis.
He was introduced by another of his mentors, Dr. Carolyn Perry, new acting president of the college.
Before the convocation ceremony, the new students officially entered campus from the outside world by walking through the historic columns in one of the college's most revered rites, the Columns Ceremony.
New students also attended a farewell reception for their parents and family members on Latshaw Plaza, had dinner with their mentors, attended a spirit rally and then socialized with their resident advisors and new classmates on the quad.
Wesminster's classes begin Thursday.