Spring Campus Convening Weekend A Big Hit

During St. John's second Campus Convening Weekend in Annapolis, over 50 Low-Residency students, in-person students, alumni, and faculty gathered to meet each other, some for the first time in person, outside of Zoom. The weekend spanned several days starting the evening of March 24 lasting and until late afternoon on Saturday March 26, 2022.

The campus convening weekend began with the weekly After Seminar Gathering in the Hartle room of the BBC, where in-person students normally gather for pizza and libations after Thursday seminars to continue their conversations after class. Discussions often go into the late night hours.

The weekend continued on Friday. In the afternoon students could go to the Greenfield Library Orientation to tour the library and see the rare book collection, which includes a copy of The Leviathan (the current Tutorial reading for those in the Politics & Society segment) among some of the other treasures.  At 6 p.m. students had a catered dinner with delectable Greek fair and at 8 p.m. they went to a concert by the renowned bass baritone Dashon Burton in the Great Hall.

Saturday began with a brunch where students could meet the new President on the Annapolis campus, Nora Demleitner, who is very down-to-earth and open to student feedback (she just recently put a suggestion box outside of her office in Mellon Hall). Current students and alumni asked questions about the future of the Graduate Institute and expressed their desire to continue studying at St. John’s for longer than the four semesters required for the M.A. in Liberal Arts.

After brunch, students had a lively seminar on chapters 1 through 8 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, lead by tutors teaching both online and in-person, before attending a cookout. It was chilly outside so most students ate indoors instead of playing outdoor spots on the lawn. However, last semester there was a competitive game (Trojans v.s. Greeks) of bocce, the official GI sport in Annapolis. No one was humilitated in bocce this Saturday, but perhaps students will be up for a rematch at the next Campus Convening Weekend.

The official end of the Campus Convening Weekend concluded with the cookout. Students left satisfied, with fully bellies and smiling faces. Students, alumni, and tutors can look forward to more successful Campus Convening Weekends in the future.