Scenes from SIUE Convocation 2026
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville held its Class of 2030 Convocation on Friday, August 21. SIUE leadership, faculty, staff and DJ Phat Mack, welcomed the largest first-year class in the history of the University.
During the lively afternoon ceremony—complete with a cell phone light show —Provost Denise Cobb, PhD, shared, “The students in this first-year class come to us from 543 different high schools and communities in 26 states.”
Students hail from 15 countries including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Grenada, Kenya, Nepal, Netherlands and Ukraine. Locally, students from the region are graduates of area high schools including SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School.
The Provost added, “The class has an average high school GPA of 3.49, which includes 531 students with a 4.0 GPA--that's 24.21 percent of the entire class, we double checked!”
Roll Cougs!
Photos by Howard Ash
