August 19, 2009

MEDIA CONTACT: Nick Massella 
202-994-3087; massella@gwu.edu

GW TO WELCOME INCOMING GRADUATE STUDENTS

WASHINGTON - Incoming George Washington University graduate students begin their academic experience with the first annual Graduate Student Welcome Ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009, at 6 p.m. in the Marvin Center Betts Theatre. Graduate students comprise more than half of the student enrollment at the University.

The ceremony is intended to unify and inaugurate incoming graduate students to GW's lifelong and worldwide academic community. The hour-long program includes remarks by University President Steven Knapp, as well as participation from the Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Office of Grad Life in Student and Academic Support Services and members of the GW Alumni Association.

Additionally, each graduate student in attendance will receive a special lapel pin, to officially welcome them into the GW community. Graduate students entering in the fall of 2009 are the first to receive the newly created graduate student pin, which serves as a common symbol of students' connection to GW and a way to welcome them into our diverse community.

The image pictured on this pin appears in three places on the Foggy Bottom Campus: Trustee's Gate, Professor's Gate and America's Gate. Each leads into the heart of the GW campus community. Atop each gate sits a book, representing knowledge, and which features the letters 'GW.'

- GW -