Chowan University officially marked the beginning of the 2026-27 academic year on September 2 as students, faculty and staff gathered for the University’s annual Founders Day Convocation.

Held at McDowell Columns, the ceremony brought the campus community together at one of Chowan’s most recognizable landmarks to celebrate the University’s history while looking ahead to a new year.

President Dr. Rosemary M. Thomas addressed the Chowan community during the ceremony, welcoming students back to campus and recognizing the beginning of another academic year.

For Chowan’s newest students, Founders Day Convocation also marked one of their first opportunities to participate in a University tradition as members of the Class of 2030.

Following Convocation, members of the incoming class participated in the traditional ringing of the University bell. The tradition connects the beginning of a student’s Chowan experience with the day that experience comes to a close.

New students ring the bell as they begin their time at Chowan and will encounter that tradition again as they reach graduation. Between those two moments are the classes, friendships, challenges, accomplishments and experiences that shape their years at the University.

That connection between Chowan’s past and its future is at the heart of Founders Day.

Founded in 1848, Chowan has welcomed generations of students to Murfreesboro. While the University and the students it serves have changed throughout its history, traditions such as Founders Day provide an opportunity for today’s students to recognize that they are becoming part of a story much larger than their individual college experience.

The setting at McDowell Columns further connects that history with the present. One of the University’s defining landmarks, the Columns have become a familiar symbol of Chowan and a backdrop to many significant moments in the lives of its students.

For the Class of 2030, however, September 2 represented a beginning.

With the ringing of the bell and the opening of another academic year, Chowan welcomed its newest students into the University community and began another chapter in its history.