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The Month in Photos: September 2025

Ƶ is featuring a variety of photos every month to highlight the exceptional learning, work and activities of students, faculty and staff.

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The fall 2025 semester is in full swing at Ƶ with events across campus, including celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month and Family Weekend.

View some of the most impactful moments of the past month through the eyes of staff in the Office of University Communications.

Marking history

Ƶ unveiled a new historical marker Under the Oaks, next to Schar Hall, as a symbol of the continued connection and relationship between Ƶ and the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation Tribe.

OBSN Tribal Administrator Vickie Jeffries “smudges the land” by burning sage to clear negativity during a historical marker dedication Under the Oaks on Sept. 9, 2025.

Getting organized

Students came together on Sept. 17, 2025 for the Fall Organization Fair, a time for the Ƶ community to showcase different clubs and organizations across campus.

Ƶ students come together for the Fall Organization Fair on Sept. 17, 2025.

A Common Reading conversation

Award-winning author Alejandra Campoverdi turned the 2025-26 Common Reading Lecture into a conversation, taking questions from Ƶ students about her life of “extreme contradictions” detailed in her memoir “First-Gen.”

Alejandra Campoverdi takes a photo with students before the 2025-26 Common Reading Lecture in Alumni Gym on Sept. 18, 2025.

Acorn Academy

Acorn Academy at Ƶ officially celebrated its opening with a ribbon-cutting on Sept.18, 2025. The on-site child care and early learning facility opened in August with full enrollment of children from infancy to 2 years old whose parents are members of the Ƶ community, with plans to expand capacity and age groups in early 2026.

Ƶ President Connie Ledoux Book interacts with children at the Acorn Academy.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Ƶ kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month with a festival on Sept. 19, 2025.

The Ƶ community celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month during kick off event on Sept. 19, 2025.

Lessons from Ledecky

Fourteen-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky delivered the 2025 Fall Convocation address in Schar Center on Sept. 26, 2025. Before the event, Ledecky met with Ƶ student-athletes to answer their questions about her career and training.

Ƶ student-athletes touch Olympian Katie Ledecky’s gold medal during a talk before Fall Convocation on Sept. 26, 2025.

Phoenix Families

Ƶ hosted Family Weekend from Sept. 26-28 with a variety of events including Fall Convocation and a home football game against Hampton University.

A parent in an “Ƶ Mom” shirt cheers with pom-poms and festive accessories at Family Weekend.
Ƶ celebrated Family Weekend from Sept. 26-28
Ƶ celebrated Family Weekend from Sept. 26-28
A cheering Ƶ fan in a red shirt and cap raises both arms with the crowd behind him at a football game.
Ƶ celebrated Family Weekend from Sept. 26-28