Grab your books — and your scarf
Concordia University Irvine gave a warm welcome to its new freshmen and transfer students — literally.
At the university’s opening convocation Monday, alumni welcomed each new student with a green and gold scarf, the school’s colors.
The “scarving” ceremony is a new tradition for the school, which celebrated the opening of its 41st academic year this week.
For many British and Irish colleges and universities, the wearing of collegiate scarves is a traditional way for students to show their school pride on game day and at other events, according to a university release.
Concordia opened in 1976 with just 36 students, five faculty members and one building.
Martin Schramm, the last of Concordia University Irvine’s five original faculty members to retire, calls the first students to step onto campus “pioneers.”
“We had just that one building … students who wanted to play soccer outside would move these rocks and boulders around so they could play,” Schramm said.
The Lutheran institution was first called Christ College Irvine until the school’s Board of Regents changed the name to Concordia in 1994. It became the 10th campus in the national Concordia University System, which was formed by the Lutheran Church’s Missouri Synod.
The system also has campuses in Chicago, Alabama, New York, Michigan, Texas, Oregon, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
Now, the Irvine university has more than 4,000 students, 155 full-time faculty members and 22 buildings.
The school celebrated its 40th anniversary in July with an on-campus event featuring 1940s-style band Wartime Radio Revue, a proclamation from Irvine Mayor Steven Choi, dancing and cake for the more- than 1,100 guests.
“Faithfulness and excellence — those are the two words I hope will describe Concordia for the next 40 years,” Concordia President Kurt Krueger told the Daily Pilot in July. “We want to continue to grow and provide the kind of education we do for more and more students.”
Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
