SIOUX CITY, Iowa – When more than 200 Briar Cliff University freshmen returned to campus from “Charger Camp” on Aug. 30, they did more than just eat pizza.

After arriving in several buses at the main entrance to campus, the first-year students, led by BCU President Beverly Wharton, climbed the many stairs to the top of The Cliff. On their way, each freshman student’s name was ceremoniously announced over a loud speaker in the “Presentation of the Class of 2014.”

 As the students filed into the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace to participate in Fall Convocation, they signed the class Registry Book, as a symbol of their matriculation to the university. During Convocation, they joined faculty and staff in songs and prayers; they also received words of advice from student and faculty representatives. Afterward, pizza was served on Heffernan Mall on campus.

Charger Camp is a first-year BCU immersion experience at Spirit Lake, Iowa, where freshmen participate in a variety of activities to promote involvement and assimilation to the BCU community. Briar Cliff’s campus-wide Franciscan theme for the 2010-11 academic year is “Connecting with Joyful Service.”

Briar Cliff University is a Catholic institution with an enrollment of more than 1,100 students from 28 states. Students are educated in the Franciscan tradition of excellence in the liberal arts and career preparation in an environment of care and compassion. For more information, please visit briarcliff.edu.

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