President Kelly’s remarks at the 2026 Community of Scholars Honor Convocation, August 21, 2026. As prepared for delivery.

Good morning!

It is a great day to be a Captain … and we are all Captains.

Thank you to Dr. Hughes for thoughtfully setting the stage for us; to the Brass Quintet and Grace Farris for putting music in our hearts; to Dr. Kidd for words that nourish our souls; and to Dr. Greenlee for standing watch over our traditions.

And thank you to Sharon Conti, Captain for Life, from the Virginia Educators Credit Union, for the donation of the pennies that are so foundational to this tradition.

To everyone joining us here today and through the livestream — welcome. Your presence speaks to the importance of this ceremony and this moment.

Today, we welcome more than 1,200 students into our community of scholars. For many of you, this is your first week in college. Others have chosen to continue their undergraduate or graduate education here after successful experiences at a community college or another institution. Some of you join us following service in our military. Whatever path brought you here, we are honored you chose Christopher Newport.

And today, we are strengthened by the commitment ALL OF YOU will make to uphold an Honor Code. A code that is woven into the very fabric of this great institution. Personally, this is a very special day. Mrs. Kelly and I had the opportunity to meet many of you at admission events throughout the year, and we have enjoyed engaging with so many of you during Welcome Week and Changing Tides.

In the days, weeks, and months ahead, we want to know you even better. We want to learn your stories — where you came from and why you chose Christopher Newport. We want to hear about your hopes and dreams. And we want to understand how we can support you along the way.

Because our mission is ultimately about you. It is to prepare you for the future — for meaningful careers, for lives of purpose and significance, and for challenges and opportunities we cannot yet imagine.

And increasingly, the future for which we are preparing you will include artificial intelligence. Many of you have already used AI in high school, college, or your everyday lives. Your faculty and staff are using it and studying it as well. And here at Christopher Newport, we intend to embrace it.

We are developing one of Virginia's first majors in Artificial Intelligence, and this year we are launching a campus-wide effort to build AI literacy across our University. We have a responsibility to ensure that you know how to use these powerful tools effectively, thoughtfully, and ethically. But I want you to understand something that I believe is even more important. The rise of artificial intelligence does not make a liberal arts education less relevant. It makes it more essential.

Think about what a Christopher Newport education asks you to develop:
Critical thinking.
Clear communication.
Creativity.
Adaptability.
Ethical judgment.
The ability to understand different perspectives.
And the ability to make sense of complicated problems.
Those are not yesterday's skills.
They may be the most important skills of tomorrow.
AI can process extraordinary amounts of information. But information is not wisdom.
AI can generate an answer. But an answer is not necessarily the truth.
AI can offer possibilities. But it cannot decide what ought to be done.
Those questions require something more.
They require history and philosophy. Science and mathematics. Literature and the arts. Economics and political science.
They require an understanding of human behavior, human institutions, and human consequences. And ultimately, they require human judgment.

That is why the liberal arts and artificial intelligence should not be seen as competing forces.

At Christopher Newport, we intend to bring them together:

Artificial intelligence grounded in human intelligence. Technology informed by ethics.

Innovation strengthened by the liberal arts. And that brings us directly to the commitment you are about to make today. Because AI also presents a question of honor. These tools will make it easier than ever to produce something that looks like learning without actually doing the learning.

You will have choices to make. When does AI help you think more deeply—and when does it think for you? When does it help you learn—and when does it allow you to avoid the struggles through which learning actually occurs? When does it strengthen your work—and when does it cross the line into presenting someone else's—or something else's—work as your own?

Your professors will help you navigate those questions. Our AI literacy initiative will help you understand these tools and use them well. But ultimately, you will have to exercise judgment.

And that is why I want you to remember this:
We will teach you to use artificial intelligence.
But we will never ask you to surrender your intelligence to it.
Technology will continue to evolve.
Our commitment to honor will not.

Do not outsource your thinking.
Do not outsource your creativity.
Do not outsource your curiosity.
And perhaps most importantly, do not outsource the hard work of becoming the person you are capable of becoming.
Because that is what your education is ultimately about.

Ladies and gentlemen, look at the faculty seated behind me. They comprise some of the most talented and dedicated educational professionals in our nation. They are here because they believe in you and in the transformative power of education. So engage them. Challenge them. Learn alongside them.

They will be your professors, but many will also become your mentors, advisers, and research partners. They will learn from you as you learn from them. And in a world increasingly shaped by technology, those human relationships will become more important—not less.

That relationship between teacher and student has endured through every technological revolution in human history. And it remains at the heart of a Christopher Newport education.

Please join me in thanking our outstanding CNU faculty!

You are also beginning to discover that the people who make this place special extend far beyond our classrooms. Look around this magnificent concert hall for a moment. The setting. The stage. The lights. The sound. The thousands of details that make a ceremony like this possible. Our staff makes all of this happen. And it doesn't stop here. The people who prepare your meals, maintain this beautiful campus, coach your teams, support your organizations, care for you when you need help, and work every day to keep this a safe, inclusive, welcoming, and respectful community — they are all committed to your success. They are Anchored in Excellence, and they are relentlessly student-focused.

Please join me in thanking our incredible CNU staff!

So, Captains, as we prepare to set sail together on this remarkable journey, I want to leave you with three simple challenges.

First: Embrace this place.
Embrace what makes Christopher Newport special and different. Embrace the traditions you will experience today. Embrace our values of Honor, Service, Scholarship, and Leadership. Embrace our commitment to being Anchored in Excellence. And embrace the people around you. Treat others with respect and engage with an inclusive spirit. Show up as your best self — hold doors, look people in the eye, engage in conversation. If you do that, something remarkable will happen. Christopher Newport will stop simply being the university you attend. It will become your University.

Second: This one is incredibly important.
Ask for help. There are people across this campus committed to your success and well-being. That includes Mrs. Kelly and me. As we talked about earlier this week: you started here, and our hope is that every one of you finishes here. We want to be there when you walk across that stage, receive your diploma, and become a Captain for Life. Between today and that day, however, there will be challenges. There will be moments when you struggle academically. There may be times when you are homesick.

There will be days when relationships are difficult, when things don't go according to plan, or when you simply aren't sure what comes next. That's part of the journey. When those moments come, ask for help.

That is what Captains do. We look out for one another. We lift each other up. We celebrate one another's successes.

Finally, go all in.
Do not simply attend Christopher Newport. Experience Christopher Newport. Get involved. Meet people who are different from you. Go to a game. Attend a concert. Join a club. Talk to your professors. Serve your community. Try something you have never done before. And through all of it, seek excellence. Every grade may not be an A. Every performance may not end in a standing ovation. But excellence isn't perfection. Excellence is the habit of giving your very best to something that matters.

If you develop that habit here — if you truly go ALL IN — it will serve you long after you leave this campus. And somewhere along this journey, I believe you will begin to discover something even more important: your WHY. Why you are here. What you are called to do.

Whom you are called to serve. And ultimately, what it means for you to live a life of significance.

When that happens, all of us will watch with tremendous pride, knowing that perhaps we played some small part in helping you along the way.

Captains, thank you for choosing Christopher Newport University as your University. Thank you for committing yourselves to living life as a Captain. And thank you for allowing all of us to join you on this journey.

Now the hour has come for you to make an important commitment.
A commitment to a life of service.
A commitment to scholarship.
A commitment founded upon a bedrock of honor and respect.
And a commitment to grow into the leaders and citizens our University, our Commonwealth, and our nation need now more than ever.
I am honored to stand with you today as you take that first step.

May this ceremony serve as one more tangible symbol of our commitment to you — and your commitment to the values of Christopher Newport.

Provost Kidd, it is time to begin the Honor Code Induction Ceremony.