September 15, 1997

Convocation for new students on Sunday, September 21

By Jim Burns

Former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, a longtime congressman representing the Monterey Bay area, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at UCSC's annual convocation for new students. The event--on Sunday, September 21--will take place from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Upper Quarry Amphitheater.

The entire UCSC community, as well as the general public, is invited to attend the convocation, which formally welcomes new students to the campus and surrounding community.

Also speaking will be Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood, EVC Michael Tanner, Student Union Assembly chair Sara Dozier, and Santa Cruz mayor Cynthia Mathews.

Panetta had been scheduled to be keynote speaker at the chancellor's inauguration this past May. He declined to attend the event, however, when the UPTE union--involved in a labor dispute--set up a picket at the base of campus on the day of the inauguration.

From 1977 to 1993, Panetta was a U.S. Representative from California's 16th (now 17th) congressional district. He served eight full terms and had begun serving his ninth when in January 1993 he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Clinton administration. Panetta directed OMB until July 1994, when he was named White House chief of staff, a position he held through the end of President Clinton's first four-year term this past January.

EVC Tanner and the divisional deans are encouraging faculty to participate in the event by marching and sitting with groups from their college of affiliation.

The University Events Office is presenting the convocation through the sponsorship of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.

For more information about the convocation, contact Karen Hilker by phone (408-459-2826) or e-mail (karen_hilker@macmail.ucsc.edu).

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