First-Years Arrive on Campus for a Packed Week of Activities to Launch Their Wellesley Careers
The incoming class at Wellesley, first-year students on track to graduate in 2017 will have plenty of opportunity to get to know one another at Wellesley this week, as they move into residence halls, explore campus, and participate in some of the fun and thought-provoking events of the week.
For those not moving boxes, eating at the dining hall and attending workshops with them during Orientation, here’s a way to get to know the class as a whole: statistics!
The 597 members of the newest green class come from 43 states plus the District of Columbia, and from 23 different nations of citizenship, with 10 percent of the class being international citizens. Twelve percent of these students are the first in their families to attend college. Fifty-one percent of the students are African American, Latina, or Asian, with 11 percent identifying themselves as biracial or multiracial.
The Office of Admission has reported that as a group, these students are active in student government and community service, and “truly exemplify Wellesley’s mission to educate women who will make a difference in the world.” They are intellectually curious and engaged in their learning experiences, conducting scientific research, pursuing intensive study of languages and cultures, and expressing creativity in the arts.
The casual news reader may have already met some Wellesley first-years in the media. For example, you may have seen that the New York Daily News reported that Kai Jordan ’17 and her friend James Doernberg took self-portraits at all 118 Manhattan subway stations—in nine hours! Or that The Nashua Telegraph shared news of Allison Thompson ’17 representing New Hampshire in the 51st annual U.S. Senate Youth Program. And media outlets as far from her West Virginia home as Houston, San Francisco, and New York told the story of Katelyn Campbell ’17, who endured repercussions and threats from administrators for speaking out against one-sided abstinence-only presentations students were required to attend at her school.
This entering class is made up of women who will… and have already begun, with such endeavors as attending a youth summit on food security, starting a creative writing club, being an active Girl Scout, performing acrobatics on horseback, teaching in a refugee camp, or researching a Campylobacter jejuni vaccine.
The world can look forward to hearing about many more of these women, as they put down roots at Wellesley and let their branches grow.