Haskell Indian Nations University senior Brittany Denny, a Cherokee from Colcord, Okla., feeds watermelon to her niece, Harlee Bullard, 5 months, on Tuesday. Haskell welcomed hundreds of new students to campus during convocation and followed the event with a watermelon feed.

The crowd of students and employees who gathered in Haskell Indian Nation University’s auditorium Tuesday cheered and hollered and reached across their seats to shake one another’s hands.

“We’re a community, a family, more than we are a student body,” said Carly Blemmel, a junior from Talihina, Okla.

About 400 people congregated in Haskell Auditorium for the fall convocation, ushering in a new academic year for the university’s roughly 1,000 students.

University President Linda Warner, who began working April 2 on campus, welcomed the crowd, encouraging them to be accountable and show respect, cooperation and honesty.

“It’s going to be an integral part of our lives as we talk about where Haskell is going,” she said.

Xavier Barraza, a senior from Hopland, Calif., who is serving as student senate president, said he was looking forward to a busy year on campus. The students want to be involved in more events in the community, he said, including a health initiative the campus launches today.

“We want to be the healthiest school in the nation,” he said.

Blemmel said there is much in store for incoming students.

“It is a fun, culturally stimulating experience,” she said. “You learn about culture, yours and other people’s. You get an education and a sense of family that you can’t get anywhere else in the world.”