Gwen Jorgensen, a Waukesha native and member of the 2012 U.S. summer Olympic team, will be the keynote speaker at Carroll University’s Opening Convocation on Sept. 5, 2012. The event will be at 3 p.m. in the auditorium of the Shattuck Music Center, 218 N. East Ave. It is free and open to the public.
Jorgensen’s talk at Carroll will be the kickoff event in the university’s yearlong theme of Energy: an exploration of energy in its many forms, from cellular to solar, and from individual to societal and global perspectives. This interdisciplinary series of presentations, workshops, convocations, performances and other activities will explore energy from a variety of perspectives, including fossil fuel dependence, developing new sources of energy, personal energy, and spiritual energy.
Other yearlong themes explored at Carroll have included Food in 2010-2011 and Water in 2011-2012.
Jorgensen, a triathlete, will discuss the energy and drive it took to become one of the world’s leading athletes in the triathlon and her journey to the Olympics.
A standout in both swimming and track at Waukesha South High School, Jorgensen was a three-sport athlete at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her Olympic debut at the 2012 London games came nearly a year to the day after she shocked the triathlon world by running her way to a second-place finish and a spot on the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team. She has two World Cup wins on the triathlon circuit.
Opening Convocation is Carroll’s official welcome to new undergraduate students, which this year includes about 740 freshmen and 165 transfer students. The new students will be led by a single piper from the Billy Mitchell Scottish Pipe Band in Carroll’s traditional march to the Shattuck Music Center, where they will be greeted by faculty in academic regalia.
