President Laurie Carter gives her first Matriculation Convocation in Memorial Chapel. Photos by Danny Damiani
LISTENING TOUR
Conversations, community highlight start of Laurie Carter’s presidency By Ed Berthiaume
P
resident Laurie A. Carter watched from the portico in front of Main Hall as John Holiday took the microphone to greet incoming students and their families on a beautiful September afternoon. The annual welcome event for new students, typically held in Memorial Chapel but moved outdoors, was Carter’s first as Lawrence president, and it was a visible reminder that we are together again—students, faculty, and staff—even while adapting to pandemic protocols. The mantra that Carter and the Lawrence
4
FALL 2021
University staff had introduced as Fall Term arrived, “Brighter Together,” was on full display as the sun shone above Main Hall. Holiday, the celebrated countertenor who teaches in the Conservatory of Music, leaned into all that togetherness and asked those in attendance to sing along to This Little Light of Mine. They sang. They clapped. They smiled. And it was at that moment, Carter said, that she knew this community was ready to reconnect.
