Yesterday we welcomed Wesleyan’s class of 2012 to campus. It was a splendid day! Andrus Field was filled with cars and trucks unloading boxes of clothes, books, cds and computers. Many Wesleyan staff members, including this president, donned WESHAUL t-shirts and helped our new families carry luggage to their new dorms. I met parents, grandparents and friends who were (anxiously) helping their students set up their rooms. In a matter of hours they would be heading home, and the students would be (eagerly) beginning their Wesleyan careers.
This is such an exciting time. Most students come to Middletown with a wide variety of interests. They want to study music and math, economics and poetry; they want to participate in athletics and theater, in politics and in religious practice. When I meet the new students, I often ask what they intend to study. It might be more efficient to ask what they don’t want to study. The Wes frosh are intensely curious and eager to engage. We will engage them.
Here are a few facts about 721 members of the class of 2012. It’s a class filled with academic distinction. More than three-quarters of the class have already done advanced work in mathematics, lab sciences and foreign languages. 17% of them come from the Western states, and 11% have their primary residence outside the country. About 6% of the class has a parent who graduated from Wes, and 16% are first generation college students. This year we’ve welcomed the largest group of international students (9%) to campus. They come from India and Ghana, Bulgaria and New Zealand — and many points in between.
For the rest of the week, the class of 2012, new transfer, exchange students and graduate students will be learning the ropes at Wes. They will meet with their advisors, make new friends, and begin to explore Middletown. Over the weekend, the rest of the Wesleyan student body will join them. Classes get underway Tuesday. I am still tinkering with my “Photography and Representation Syllabus,” but it has to be ready for distribution Sept 2. I can hardly wait until we are fully underway. It’s going to be a great year!
PS: Here’s a link to my Chapel talk to new Wesleyan families
http://www.wesleyan.edu/president/speeches/2008/arrivalday_0809/index.html
[tags] Class of 2012, WESHAUL, speech, back to school [/tags]
Dr. Roth,
Driving back to Florida after dropping our son off at Wesleyan.
What an awesome experience. What we expected to be a sad day as our oldest child starts college and leaves the nest turned into an exciting and happy day for our son. The weather was perfect, the staff was exceptional, the seminars informative and interesting, the upperclassman helpful and pleasant.
Our son called us already excited and looking forward to the educational and life experiences ahead of him!
Kudo’s to you Mr. Roth, the staff, faculty, and students for making us feel safe and secure knowing that he is at Wesleyan and a member of the Cardinal family!!
I think Wesleyan is very lucky to have a leader of President Roth’s vision in charge of this iconic institution. From playing superb jazz piano at his inauguration, to his courage in tackling the end of the year incident, to his willingness to teach, to helping new students move in, to introducing his informative blog, President Roth is leading in all the right ways…BRAVO
Dear Wesleyan University,
I sincerely just want to say “thankyou” for the most warm and welcoming student arrival day I could have ever expected!! It has been almost a year since we last visited and knew the college felt so right for my daughter then. Her arrival on Tues. left me well knowing that she is at the college of her dreams and all that could dream for her. The tears shed were tears of elation of leaving my daughter at what is probably one of the greatest colleges there must be. I loved the humor, warmth,hospitality,the great organization of arrival day, and the complimentary lunch for the families was so much appreciated.
I also expected to be a bit sad to see my daughter leave however, left feeling totally thrilled for her to begin her new journey at Wesleyan University. Thankyou for such a fabulous day and for my daughter to share in this great opportunity of education !!