![Banner reading "UW Tacoma Presents Welcome Days" with crowds of attendees below.](/sites/default/files/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-featureimage.jpg)
Convocation Kicks Off the New Academic Year
Hear and see what it was like when we came together face-to-face as a community for the first time in 19 months.
UW Tacoma celebrated the start of the 2021 academic year on Wednesday, Sept. 29, with our annual Convocation. More than 1,000 students, faculty and staff descended upon the Prairie Line Trail to hear speakers and score a free t-shirt and cookie. For many, it was their first time in person on the UW Tacoma campus, or it was the largest crowd of people they had been around since the pandemic began.
If you missed it, we've created a special episode of the UW Tacoma podcast, Paw'd Defiance, with the highlights.
And here is a slideshow of photos that capture the spirit of the day. Although it was cloudy, the rain held off and no one could complain it was too hot!
![Purple and gold star-shaped balloons in foreground, UW Tacoma Tioga Library Building with W in background](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-balloons-slide01.jpg)
![Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Mentha Hynes-Wilson arrives at UW Tacoma 2021 Convocation](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-mentha-slide02.jpg)
![The Grand Staircase does not always look like this. A special supergraphic decal has been applied to the stair risers.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-waving-slide03.jpg)
![ASUWT President Andre Jimenez and UW Tacoma Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-jimenezlange-slide04.jpg)
![Mark Glenn, '95, '01, in the top hat, is known as Sergeant Husky and won the UW Veterans Flyaway Contest in 2019.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-markglenn-slide06.jpg)
![2021 Convocation at UW Tacoma - tents in foreground, crowds of attendees, Snoqualmie Power House in background.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-crowdshot-slide08.jpg)
![UW Tacoma Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange with microphone](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-langespeech-slide09.jpg)
![City of Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards at UW Tacoma 2021 Convocation](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-woodards-slide05.jpg)
![ASUWT President Andre Jimenez with microphone](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-jimenezspeech-slide10.jpg)
![Purple t-shirts on tables, with staff distributing them to UW Tacoma students.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-tshirts-slide07.jpg)
![Group of students on the UW Tacoma Grand Staircase](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu./sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-09/uwtnews-2021convocation-stairsgroup-slide11.jpg)
Finally, Paw'd Defiance asked the UW Tacoma community to share their thoughts on returning to campus after 19 months of remote instruction and work.