University officials encouraged first-year and transfer students to connect with new people and engage in community service at the annual Convocation and Welcome Day of Service.

University President Ellen Granberg, Provost Christopher Bracey and junior Olivia Frankiewicz addressed the class and welcomed the new students to GW, saying the ceremony would “bookend” their time at GW. About 2,000 new students attended the event, which is more than twice as many students that attended last year’s ceremony.

Granberg said in her speech that the nation is nearing the presidential election, which ignites GW students’ passion for politics and civic engagement, and that GW students are some of the most intellectually and socially engaged “on the planet.” She added that the campus will “come alive” this semester during the election and students will canvas and campaign, participate in debates and vote.

“Our location in the heart of the nation’s capital is not just a point on a map, it’s an open invitation to participate in history, and I cannot imagine a more exciting time or place to begin your college journey,” Granberg said.

Granberg said Welcome Day of Service, a day where students are brought to sites around the District to do a variety of different service activities, which in past years included painting, gardening and cleaning, is the first opportunity for students to work together as a class and make a tangible impact on surrounding communities.

“This is a remarkable group of global, national and local leaders and change makers,” Granberg said. “Over 120 members of Congress, 79 ambassadors, two Secretaries of State, two U.S. Attorneys General and countless journalists, judges, CEOs, athletes and entertainers have started their careers at a GW convocation, sitting in the very seats that you occupy.”

Granberg encouraged students to get to know a wide variety of people and reach out to staff members, visit professors’ office hours, engage in class discussions and ask questions because faculty and staff members are dedicated to students’ success.

“You bring unique experiences and viewpoints that will challenge and enrich your own personal experience,” Granberg said.

Bracey welcomed students and said Convocation is the “formal recognition” of students’ academic careers at GW.

“You are a GW student because you are intelligent, high achieving in your studies, and attracted to the challenging and rewarding academic and research experience that we have to offer here at GW,” Bracey said.

Bracey said a university is where free inquiry and expression are embraced and exercised.

“There is no better place, no better university to assume truth and explore ideas, to grow and to mature and change the world than the George Washington University, located in the heart of our nation’s capital,” Bracey said.

Last year’s ceremony occurred about a month after the end of Orientation Week, with about 800 first-year and transfer students out of 2,500 attending the ceremony. Amy Cohen, the executive director of the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, said last year’s decreased turnout was due to the fact that the event took place in mid September, as well as the rainy weather conditions.

“The weather was terrible last year, to be honest with you,” Cohen said. “And being a little bit later in the year, I think students were already engaged in all the other things that they do. We know GW, students are very busy, so I think that was the primary reason.”

Cohen said after the ceremony students will travel to 55 service sites across the District to perform community service, and said the goal is to introduce new students to the DMV community and the Nashman Center.

“I love getting the opportunity to introduce our students to the D.C. community and to bring them into their civic life here at GW, as well as their academic and residential life,” Cohen said.

Frankiewicz, a psychological and brain sciences major and the event’s student speaker, said her involvement with community service at GW through Civic House, a living-learning program where participating students work with community partners to understand the challenges and to meet the needs of surrounding neighborhoods during her first year, allowed her to step out of the Foggy Bottom “bubble.”

“You may be wondering, how do you go outside of your campus, fill your future GW career with colorful and vibrant experiences, much like in art, what medium should you use to best complete this enormous task?” Frankiewicz said. “In my experience, service has been the medium that layered my college life with the richest and most beautiful colors.”

Frankiewicz said service gave her a sense of belonging on campus and taught her to appreciate how diverse service can be in college because students can volunteer, raise money, advocate for policy change, engage in research and vote on the “most pressing” issues.

“Whatever you choose, you will be able to look back at your canvas and see the colors forming a unique picture,” Frankiewicz said.