SALISBURY — The academic years at both of Salisbury’s academic institutions are in full swing, with Catawba College kicking off classes on Aug. 17 and Livingstone College following suit on Monday.

The days leading up to the first days of class were filled with orientation, registration and events for new students.

The Catawba  Convocation was held the day before classes began, on Aug. 16. The program started with an invocation Kenneth Clap and was followed by college administrators speaking.

The student body was introduced to new student government officers and SGA President Miracle Etim-Andy delivered some remarks. A release from the college said more than 450 students attended convocation.

Afterwards there was a campus picnic served with local food.

Livingstone has scheduled its own convocation ceremony for Sept. 23. Livingstone SGA President Michael Gilyard is a senior computer informations systems major. An AME Zion Church member, he grew up hearing about Livingstone and the institution poured support into him. He wanted to give back.

“All my life I’d heard about Livingstone College, and being able to take part in something so big and give back to my own is something very important to me,” Gilyard said

Gilyard said the campus is starting to feel like it is getting back to normal. There are still COVID-19 protocols on campus, but programming and operations are back in full swing in a way they haven’t been since the pandemic began in 2020.

“We have our in-person events back face-to-face, which is pretty cool for the freshmen,” Gilyard said.

There are other details that make the new year feel good like the cafeteria being open fully in-person rather than carry out only and more varieties of food available for students on campus.

Something Gilyard is excited about is getting back to Wednesday assemblies that let the campus fellowship with each other. He credited administration for the quality of the speakers they bring in for the sessions as well.