In-Person Convocation Kicks Off Exciting Family Weekend

Dr. Cameron Parker ’08, ’10 MBA was the keynote speaker at Dominican University of California on Friday for Convocation to kick off Family Weekend, which is ideal because he has his own Dominican family.

Dr. Parker’s spouse is former Dominican basketball player Michaela Baskerville Parker ’10, ’11 MBA. They have two children, daughter Zoey and son Jordan, who accompanied his dad to Convocation. The couple met as undergraduates at Dominican when they were student-athletes. Michaela now is a Crime Prevention and Community Relations Specialist with the City of Alameda and Cameron is Retention Support Specialist at Holy Names University in Oakland.

Convocation 2021 at Dominican this year was held in person. Masks are required regardless of vaccination status at all indoor venues during Family Weekend. Activities have been designed to follow current Marin County public health guidelines as of September 20th and will be updated should guidance change.

For Convocation, check-in was at the Conlan Recreation Center. at which time student honorees picked up their award certificates and plaques. Students and their loved ones then marched together, from Conlan Center, up the middle of Acacia Avenue, to the Meadowlands Hall Lawn.

After Cameron's address, Mojgan Behmand, Vice President for Academic Affairs, presented this year’s Joseph R. Fink Faculty Achievement Award to Dr. Françoise Lepage, Professor Emerita of Business.

President Nicola Pitchford then recognized Dominican sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have been named to the Dean’s List in consecutive semesters, and welcomed Dominican’s first-year Trustee Scholars.

The President’s Reception followed on Meadowlands Lawn. Students, families, faculty, and staff, and enjoyed light refreshments. Penguin Radio, Dominican’s student-led station, interviewed students and families.

Following the President’s Reception, all Dominican fans were invited to bring their Penguin Athletics Passport and attend the volleyball match in the Conlan Center gymnasium. Dominican’s women’s team played Pacific West Conference rival Holy Names University on "Breast Cancer Awareness Night" in the gymnasium.

On Saturday, check-in at Angelico Hall from 9-9:30 a.m. provided an opportunity to meet Alumni Board of Directors and chance to pick up family weekend welcome gifts and Penguin Athletics Passport.  After that, from 9:30-10:30 a.m., Dominican staged an outdoor academic session—“Welcome (Back) Home—on the Meadowlands Hall Lawn featuring first-hand accounts of what Dominican has done for its family and how it is committed to seeing every student, faculty member, and staff member thrive.

Family Weekend’s Saturday activities schedule concluded with a Student Life Scavenger Hunt—Dominican’s version of The Amazing Race—from 10:30-11:45 a.m. at various locations on campus. It was a chance for all to break codes, solve riddles, and complete challenges to unlock the secrets of the campus. At each stop participants learned about how Dominican supports students' well-being.

The Student Life Scavenger Hunt was followed by an outdoor picnic lunch at Caleruega Dining Hall Plaza from noon to 2 p.m. 

A pair of athletics events at Kennelly Field capped  Family Weekend on Sunday. The Penguins women’s soccer team played Hawaii-Hilo in a PacWest game at noon and Dominican’s men’s soccer team played the Vulcans at 3:30 p.m.