{"id":33375,"date":"2026-09-11T14:24:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T14:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/?p=33375"},"modified":"2026-09-11T14:24:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T14:24:25","slug":"treating-home-as-a-verb-four-takeaways-from-opening-convocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/09\/treating-home-as-a-verb-four-takeaways-from-opening-convocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Treating Home as a Verb: Four Takeaways from Opening Convocation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right in the middle of a flurry of new beginnings, Opening Convocation served as a moment for faculty, staff, and students to pause and reflect on the small acts that, together, will create their community\u2014and a shared home\u2014in the year ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want us this year to focus on home as a verb, as an act, and as a struggle,\u201d said keynote speaker Dr. Roopali Phadke. Chair of the Department of Environmental Studies\u2014a department that focuses much of its work on what it means to sustain life on Earth\u2014Phadke issued a challenge for those in the audience: start thinking about home as something made in community, not out of brick and mortar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHome isn’t a structure,\u201d she said. \u201cFor me, it is a memory of the goodness in life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That theme echoed beyond Phadke\u2019s keynote, with campus leaders exploring ways that Mac can build and rebuild their community one small act at a time.
Here are four takeaways from the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intentional homemaking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Keynote
Keynote speaker Dr. Roopali Phadke, professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Studies, addresses the audience at Opening Convocation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Greeted by the campus wind turbine and the United Nations flag flying overhead, Phadke felt her own \u201choming instincts buzzing\u201d during her first trip to Macalester in 2005 for a job interview. But truly making Mac her home has taken intentionality and care, something she advised her fellow Scots to engage in actively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor those of you new to campus and maybe those who are still feeling a little unmoored, I recommend doing some homemaking,\u201d she said. \u201cFind that bench where you can catch your breath. Find a basement kitchen to cook in. And find home in St. Paul, getting off campus to make home among our many diverse communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, Phadke says, homemaking isn\u2019t just about finding comfort. A home is also a community where neighbors support one another\u2014something the Twin Cities experienced firsthand during Operation Metro Surge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Opening
The traditional procession of flags kicked off the program, welcoming the Mac global community into a moment of celebration at the start of a new academic year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf your civil liberties are threatened again, know that those sitting around you and standing around you will stand up for you in defense of our shared home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of small<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

President Suzanne Rivera opened her remarks reflecting on the simple joys of a new school year\u2014a new notebook, unsharpened pencils, and a boundless sense of possibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI genuinely enjoyed covering textbooks with brown paper from grocery bags, labeling folders for each subject,\u201d Rivera said of her time as a child, adding with a smile, \u201cCan we all agree that green is for science?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small joys and small acts, Rivera said, can collectively lead to a strong, flourishing home. She quoted writer adrienne maree brown: \u201cSmall is good, small is all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small acts, she told students, can vary from holding the door open for someone to deeply working to understand another person in the room. \u201cWatch for incremental progress and celebrate the little wins,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cAnd when you\u2019re daunted or you feel overwhelmed, find one small next step.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaning in to difference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Saint
Saint Paul mayor Kaohly Her told students to “challenge themselves” in everything they do at Mac, but also to “love as much as you can.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Saint Paul mayor Kaohly Her made an appearance, urging students to embrace complexity and difference, rather than shying away from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t just have diversity of people, we have to have diversity in thought, we have to be able to hold multiple truths that may be conflicting in the same reality,\u201d Her said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of retreating from differing viewpoints, Her encouraged Scots to use the skills they learn on campus to make better homes all over the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is the education that you receive here that will give you the critical thinking skills in order for you to be able to do that,\u201d Her said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just a skill that you are learning here because we think it is important academically. It is important for the survival of our own society and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Macalester Asian Music Ensemble performs a piece at Opening Convocation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shaping a new home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The incoming Class of 2030 also got plenty of practical advice from Student Government President David Christenfeld \u201927. The senior history major doled out tips on everything from working with professors\u2014\u201cAsk them about their own research,\u201d Christenfeld said. \u201cIt could lead to job and research opportunities for you!\u201d\u2014to exploring the Twin Cities, including his personal favorite: watching the Timberwolves play on the cheap at Target Center ($10 tickets on college nights).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he closed with a simple message about the power Macalester students have to shape their new home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the great things about being a school this small is that every student has a real voice and say in what happens,\u201d Christenfeld said. \u201cIf there are things that you want to change, you can change them.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Macalester College community, new and old, came together on September 9, 2026, to kick off a new academic year. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":1431,"featured_media":33393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-newswire","mediatype-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"fields":{"main_feature_story":"","custom_image":false,"custom_link_url":"","custom_feature_title":"","custom_feature_caption":"","custom_markup":"","custom_markup_link":"","custom_markup_title":"","custom_markup_caption":"","image_options":false,"byline":"Abraham Swee","article_type":[8],"post_thumbnail_style":"default","flickr_photoset_id":"","youtube_id":"","square_thumbnail":false,"press_downloads":false,"press_photos":false,"story_title":"","story_caption":"","rotations":false,"maps":false,"marker_title":"","marker_text":"","geographic_location":false,"feature_embed":"","news_icon_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1431"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33375"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33399,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33375\/revisions\/33399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}