On a recent early September afternoon, a spirited group of a dozen �ֲ���ý students rambled along the Androscoggin Riverwalk in downtown Auburn, listening to music turned low on a hand-held bluetooth speaker carried by Alexis Gonzalez ’26 of Hanford, Calif.

The group had just come from nearby Crescent Beach in Auburn, where they threw a Frisbee, waded in Taylor Pond, and sang karaoke songs. Beside the edge of the rushing Androscoggin, they stopped for photos, while some danced. 

Just one day earlier, the nine first-year �ֲ���ý students in the group were strangers. Now, as they enjoyed one of roughly 50 orientation trips offered to the entire Class of 2027, the strangers had accomplished what their trip leaders were working toward: creating their own sense of �ֲ���ý community.

“They were able to really connect with each other,” said Gonzalez, a co-leader of the Lakes Chillin’ trip with J.J. Mariscal ’26 of Mission, Texas. “They learned each other’s names very fast. They’re comfortable with each other.” 

And the karaoke? “They’re really good singers, actually. The energy was just really cool.”

Outdoor orientation trips for first-year students are not unique to �ֲ���ý, nor are they new. But in recent years, more has been done to hone and develop �ֲ���ý’ long-running program, known as AESOP (Annual Entering Student Orientation Program). 

In the late 1800s, for example, first-year students were welcomed to �ֲ���ý with a bird walk and picnics. Then, through the mid-1900s, the Stanton Ride tradition took hold with a hike, picnic, and �ֲ���ý stories told by beloved dean, Harry Rowe. 

In the late 1980s, AESOP emerged as a multi-day, outdoor experience run by the student Outing Club. Similar to other colleges’ programs, AESOP carried a strong outdoor-education component, with physical challenges in nature being a key part of the program’s focus.

By the late 2010s, as �ֲ���ý began to examine the totality of its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, hard questions were asked about a predominantly white program at a predominantly white college engaged in a historically white activity, that being outdoor recreation, mostly in the backcountry. 

In response, student leaders and �ֲ���ý staff teamed up to make mission-driven changes, taking a deep dive into data from student surveys and national best practices to help them more effectively design an array of trips that adhere more closely to the AESOP goal: An inclusive and welcoming experience that gives first-year �ֲ���ý students a sense of their place on campus, in Lewiston, and in Maine, and to help them feel an integral part of the �ֲ���ý community.

“There is a lot of experiential education research we’ve looked at,” said Blake Reilly, associate dean of students and director of operations and administration. A successful orientation trip is “not necessarily about an outdoor experience, it’s about having a shared experience and working together toward something.”

To that end, AESOP can’t be one size fits all. Students should be able to choose whatever level of challenge they want, Reilly said, since many already have had their fair share of challenges just getting to �ֲ���ý. 

“AESOP should be challenge by choice,” said Reilly. “When students come to campus they are coming from all over the country and world, and some have never been to Maine before. If you’re dropped onto the �ֲ���ý campus for the first time, you are already facing a challenging situation.”

AESOP offerings are more creative and varied than ever. While a range of trips still afford traditional outdoor excursions to the backcountry of Maine and New Hampshire (like backpacking in Grafton Notch or canoeing on Moosehead Lake), today about a third of the roughly 50 AESOP trips focus on some sort of city or campus experience. 

One local trip gave students a chance to produce a film. Another explored downtown Lewiston landmarks. Another taught students woodworking skills in the theater department’s scene shop, while Wool and Waves traveled to Popham Beach for surfside fun and knitting (no experience required).

Another major change is offering multiple versions of some trips for affinity groups: women, women of color, international students, and students who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). 

For example, the Lakes Chillin’ trip led by Gonzalez and Mariscal was a BIPOC student affinity trip. The two leaders didn’t know they would be leading an affinity group until they were assigned one. When that happened, both said they wondered whether offering affinity groups might be limiting by preventing the first-year students from meeting students from more diverse backgrounds. But as they watched their group bond quickly, they saw the merit in this new option. 

“We kind of realized that the whole AESOP statement is about making sure students are feeling included in everything; making sure they have a safe and comfortable environment,” Mariscal said. “Introducing them to �ֲ���ý through a BIPOC group, they will have a strong connection with the group. And later on if they need someone to talk to, they’ll always have someone they met in AESOP who they feel comfortable talking to.” 

Together, Gonzalez and Mariscal helped forge that strong connection. They planned a surprise birthday cake for one of the new students, and invited the first-years to contribute songs to a Spotify playlist. Within a day the playlist held 24 hours worth of music. 

About 50 miles to the northwest, AESOP trip leader Verina Chatata ’26 was climbing a steep, rocky trail to the summit of 3,200-foot Mount Blue with deep breaths and a smile that stretched all the way back to last year, when Chatata climbed the same peak for the first time as a first-year at �ֲ���ý with nine other women of color on an affinity trip.

The experience was positive and powerful because it leveled the field, Chatatas said, making it more inclusive and less intimidating. 

“I absolutely loved it. I liked hiking with the affinity group because it made the environment a lot more comfortable for me, even though I didn’t have an incredible amount of hiking experience,” said Chatata who is from Lilongwe, Malawi, in southeast Africa, and grew up camping, but not hiking. “We shared a certain level of understanding across the different conversations we were having, which thus contributed to the comfort level.”

Catie Luedee works closely with AESOP student leaders as the college’s coordinator of outdoor education and programs. She also advises the Outing Club. The ability to be comfortable in the outdoors, she admits, was never a question for her growing up.

“The more I work in outdoor education, the more I think am so privileged: upper-middle class, white girl from small-town Maine. I’ve always felt safe outside — my dad is a boat captain,” said Luedee, who is from the coastal town of Phippsburg, an hour from campus.

“Remembering that for a large population of people, the outdoors is not a place they feel safe is very important — and it’s very important for AESOP.”

The changes to the program seem to be working. By 2019, post-AESOP student surveys showed that 86 percent of respondents said the experience was “enjoyable” or “somewhat enjoyable.”  In 2021, after COVID canceled the 2020 trips, AESOP scored a 96-percent approval rating. Last year, it hit 99 percent. “I was pretty happy with that,” Reilly said, “but the goal is 100 percent.”

Another improvement added this year in the name of inclusion is a program to educate trip leaders about the history of the Indigenous lands they and their first-year students visited. 

During one of their many training sessions, AESOP trip leaders on Aug. 28 heard from Associate Professor of History Joe Hall, whose scholarly interests focus on Native American interactions with Europeans during the colonial period and who teaches a Short Term course on the history of the Wabanaki, the collective term for the Maliseet, Micmac, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes in Maine.

During his talk to the more than 100 AESOP leaders, he played a video made by three students from his Short Term course that raised hard questions about what the students knew about Wabanaki history. Then Hall asked the trip leaders to ask themselves those same questions.

“One of the things that I want to have us think about is the way that outdoor experiences is not just going for a hike, which has all sorts of histories of really intense privilege rooted in that,” Hall explained. 

“But those so-called classic experiences are rooted in a certain tradition of relatively rich white people enjoying the spaces that their ancestors had conquered from other people. And there are politics about who feels welcome where and what those spaces mean.”

For Mitchel Soederberg ’25 of Bedford, N.H. who knew little about Indigenous lands in Maine, Hall’s discussion “planted a seed.”

“It just shocks me how little I know about… the history of the people who lived in this space,” said Soederberg, who helped lead the backpacking AESOP trip in the Bigelow Range. “I love hiking and backpacking to these places. I want to learn about the people who (lived) in these places.”

Four days later — following the traditional, raucous welcome to first-year students at the Keigwin Amphitheater — Soederberg and his fellow trip leaders gathered their first-year charges and fanned out across Maine and into New Hampshire to lead 57 trips. 

With the help of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, one AESOP trip offered new students a chance to engage with the Lewiston community to get a sense of the rich experiences that await them if they venture beyond campus.

“That’s the hope for these local community engagement trips,” said Darby Ray, the center’s director. “That they welcome students into the local community, expose them to the work of several local organizations, and give them an opportunity to get involved in that work.”

One of the AESOP community engagement trips this year went to the Montello Heights assisted living community, where the students played games with the residents, including one that revealed the cost of everyday things 70 to 80 years ago.

Trip leader Gail Curtis ’26 of Rockport, Maine, called it moving and unexpected.

“What we learned is that service is not one-sided. We’re also gaining something from the experience,” Curtis said. “That really came to fruition right before our eyes when we went to Montello Heights because they gave us stories and advice from their lives. 

“They said other �ֲ���ý students have gone there and written their life stories. As an English major, that really resonated with me. That would be such an honor to write someone’s life story to pass on to their children. We learned so much there. I just feel really lucky.”

Fran Miele ’26 is from Forney, Texas, where the state rock isn’t a rock at all but a fossil, petrified palmwood.

On Aug. 31, Opening Day for the Class of 2027 at �ֲ���ý College — a bit more than a stone’s throw from Texas — Miele, a junior advisor for Parker Hall, had no trouble finding the right and real rock to serve a crucial purpose and fulfill a time honored �ֲ���ý tradition: holding the door open.

Except for one day a year, �ֲ���ý doors are never propped open. That one day is Opening Day, when student leaders like Miele, who are the front-line welcomers and baggage handlers, figure out creative ways to keep the �ֲ���ý doors open for a steady flow of new students moving into their �ֲ���ý digs. 

Meile carefully selected a piece of river stone, rounded by millions of years of water flow over and around it, from the thousands of stones that make up Parker’s rock drip edge. “Smooth and small enough to fit under a door, but won’t roll.” 

Over at Gillespie Hall (the residence formerly known as 280 College Street), the team had a more weighty answer to the problem, using broken pavers as a heavy door stop for one door and a large piece of granite for another.

The piece of granite is a few hundred million years old. And now, suddenly, it has a new purpose. I asked Kendall Jones ’25 Plymouth, N.H., helping out on Opening Day, about the rock, and we agreed: This rock has found its Purposeful Work!

Over at Page Hall, we found a type of doorstop we’ve never seen on Opening Day: A real rubber doorstop! Or, as Amazon calls it, the “Strongest Door Stopper, Heavy Duty Door Stop Wedge Made of Premium Quality Zinc and Rubber Suits Any Door, Any Floor.”

Quinn Hughes ’26 of Villanova, Pa., a junior advisor in Page, gets the credit for pulling out this particular stop. “It was in my room,” he shrugged.

Clason House, on College Street, is one of the smaller �ֲ���ý residences (30 students). Sitting on the porch welcoming students were Caroline Cassell ’24 of Woodstock, Vt., and Delaney Rankin ’24 of Harrison, Maine, each of whom served as community advisors, and Kayla Burnham ’26 of Hartland, Vt., a cross country runner who was among many varsity athletes helping out on Opening Day.

They had given some off-season purpose to a winter staple at �ֲ���ý, a bucket of ice melt, this version comprising environmentally friendly potash, urea, and crushed limestone, safe for both lawns and gardens.

Folks at Adams Hall had perhaps the priciest door stop, a fold-up hand truck that will burn a $100 hole in your wallet on retail.

At Rand Hall, the door alarms hadn’t been turned off by the time students began moving in, so a permanent doorstop wasn’t in the cards. So Alexis Gonzales ‘26 of Hanford, Calif., one of the residence’s junior advisors, took matters into her own hands by holding the door open.

“You get to meet and welcome people this way,” she said. 

From the Bobcat cheers coming from the women’s soccer team to President Garry W. Jenkins’ promise to the Class of 2027 that �ֲ���ý is a place where “you get to be who you want to be,” the resounding message at Opening Convocation on Sept. 5 was that �ֲ���ý is a community centered on caring and kindness. 

Associate Professor of Biology Andrew Mountcastle put a fine point on that message in his Convocation address, inviting the Class of 2027 to “embrace the process of learning in all of its messy imperfection” and then promising: “You are not alone. You see all of these folks up front in colored robes? We are literally here for you.”

As the 509 students in the Class of 2027 paraded across the Historic Quad on Sept. 5, they walked past the Mouthpiece, a gift from a class that graduated exactly 100 years before them, the Class of 1927 — a telling reminder that they were taking part in a �ֲ���ý ceremony in a �ֲ���ý place that is steeped in history and traditions, old and new. 

On a hot and humid Convocation day, where the morning temperature soared to 80 degrees, the academic procession stepped off from Alumni Walk on its way to Coram Library, led by Jenkins, his senior leadership team, and faculty members including mace bearer Professor of French and Francophone Studies Mary Rice-Defosse, and followed by first-year students. 

The ceremony opening the college’s 169th academic year was the first for Jenkins, who took office on July 1. “I’m Garry Jenkins. My pronouns are he/him, and I’m the new president at �ֲ���ý,” he said, prompting one of the biggest cheers of the day.

He noted how the terrace of Coram Library is the site of bookend �ֲ���ý ceremonies.

“I love that this ceremony takes place in the same spot every year. It’s also the same spot where �ֲ���ý holds its Commencement each year. So, it’s here…at the heart of this beautiful campus, where generations of �ֲ���ýies have come to both celebrate the start and the end of their studies.”

It’s a campus spot, he said, that “reminds us of what a rich, rich legacy we are all a part of, one that is grounded in the liberal arts as a dynamic force for public good, in the affirmation of human potential and the power of embracing and celebrating our differences, that’s grounded in the opportunity, in the value of open inquiry, of dialogue, and the power of ideas, that’s grounded in seeing and growing and developing the whole person in all of our humanity, all of which is rooted in a powerful sense of place and being part of local, regional, and global ecosystems.”

But Jenkins also promised the first-years that the �ֲ���ý ethos is grounded in compassion.

“We can pledge to be gracious to one another, and we can expect to be treated graciously. We can commit to kindness, and expect others to hold the same commitment.”

Jenkins asked the Class of 2027 to “please treat each other with kindness and a generous spirit.” The new president’s request drew a few claps, to which Jenkins, with humor in his voice and a nod, responded: “You can clap for that.”

With that, the audience of students, faculty, and staff burst into applause. 

To help them on their journey, Jenkins offered a few of his “strategies for success.” But the president also counted himself among those who would be learning in the year ahead. 

“And, by the way, I’m right there with you,” Jenkins said with gusto. “I’m totally plunged into the newness of �ֲ���ý and, because of that, I feel a special connection to the Class of 2027.” 

Jenkins suggested the first-years “set expectations, but know that they won’t always be met and that’s okay.” He advised them to “be a learner and a leader” and to “find ways to be part of the solution.”

�ֲ���ý is a place of high ideals, but because it is a community of humans, it is hardly perfect, Jenkins said. “We do not always achieve these ideals. But as a community, we work together to do better…There’s no us versus them at �ֲ���ý. There’s only us. And each of us is part of the solution.”

Jenkins concluded his welcome with the down-to-earth advice his mother would give: “Learn, care, share, and enjoy.”

Mountcastle’s presence at the lectern reflected another relatively new tradition: a gift from the newly graduated Class of 2023, which chose him to give the Convocation address. He recommended the first-years be patient and compassionate — particularly to themselves.

Mountcastle delivered his message through the story of the famous rock climber Alex Honnold, who became the first to successfully execute a free solo climb of the roughly 3,000-foot-high vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park called El Capitan, so named by the California state militia that in 1851 forcibly relocated the Indigenous population there, though Mountcastle noted the First people first named the monolith Tutokanula. This remarkable climb of the half-mile high rock face, completed without ropes or anchors, was captured in an Oscar-winning 2018 documentary, Free Solo.

During Honnold’s amazing climb, Mountcastle explained, neuroscientists performed an fMRI scan of his brain to observe the brain’s activity in real-time. They concluded that the area in his brain associated with processing emotions responds differently to fear than it does for most.

The scientists theorized this was because Honnold was born with a unique brain that gave him an edge in free climbing, but Honnold contested their theory, pointing to the 25 years he spent conditioning not only his body to ascend daunting rock faces, but also his mind. 

In fact, Mountcastle explained, Honnold at first feared free climbing the famous rock face, but discovered a way to train his brain in a process neuroscientists are now studying called “brain growth.” Mountcastle asked the Class of 2027 to embrace the possibilities suggested in this amazing story.

“Let’s take a moment and appreciate just how profoundly liberating and empowering this knowledge is. Each and every one of us has a 3-pound bundle of nerves between our ears that we are free to mold however we like. We all have the potential to excel at math, or learn Chinese, or understand Kantian deontology.” 

Then he reminded them: “Here’s the rub, to realize this incredible potential, we have to put in the work.” 

Such work, he acknowledged, may bring frustration, even doubt. Mountcastle urged the first-years to have faith. To help on their journey, he asked them to remember three things: “You are doing it right,” “you are not alone,” and “every single one of you belongs here.”

“Learning is not a steady, linear progression. It’s disorderly and tumultuous,” Mountcastle promised, and added: “You will learn how to ask questions, how to construct arguments, how to develop and test theories. You will learn how to critique and how to create. You will learn how to learn.”

Student Government co-presidents Rebecca Anderson ‘24 of Boone, N.C., and Dhruv Chandra ‘25 of Kolkata, India, also encouraged the first-years to try new things, talk to everyone, say hi to people on your floor, and to “form relationships with people from across campus.”

As they shared their speech, alternating back and forth throughout it, they promised, “you will soon realize that �ֲ���ý is a community of collective support.”

The day’s hopeful, supportive welcome struck a chord with Ella Blum ‘24 of South Salem, N.Y., who, with classmate Emma Upton of Amherst, N.H., served as senior class marshals, reprising the role they had last spring as junior class marshals at Commencement.

After she listened to the advice and encouragement from the speakers, she felt buoyant.

“It gave me a sense of security in not knowing exactly what I want to do with my future, to know that’s OK,” Blum said. “I think that can be true for the rest of your life: You don’t have to know where you want to go or what you want to be and still be at peace with that.”

Indeed, she added, “whether you’re a first-year and you don’t know what your major will be or a senior and you don’t know where you’ll be in the next 10 months, there is a joy in that, and an excitement in that.”

Convocation was followed by the memorial tree planting service, a tradition started by the college’s Multifaith Chaplaincy in 1997, offering the �ֲ���ý community the chance to gather and remember those members of the campus community who died in the past year. 

The short service included live music, including “Ashokan Farewell,” performed on the violin by Maple Buescher ‘25 of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The musical offering was “from a Maple to a maple,” quipped the Rev. Brittany Longsdorf, the college’s multifaith chaplain, referring to the gifted performer and the newly planted maple tree.

The ritual of watering the tree with water from Lake Andrews drew nearly 50 who lined up to share in the practice, with some getting down on their knees.

The closing reading was “grandfather: a dialect of water,” an award-winning poem by Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Ian Khara Ellasante, inspired by Ellasante’s late paternal grandfather, which ends with the line, “cry with me, walk with me.”

These members of the faculty and staff were remembered this year:

• Vincent J. LePage, Dining Services
• Issack A. Barrow, Dining Services
• Donald J. Smith, Facility Services
• Michael A. Landry Jr., Dining Services
• Lewis Afton Turlish, English faculty
• Theresa N. Giguere, Facility Services
• Pauline C. Benjamin, Dining Services
• Victoria M. Devlin, Advancement
• Gerald G. Dawbin, Information and Library Services
• Stephen Hasson, Campus Safety
• Dolores “Del” Preo, Facility Services
• William Quenga, Information and Library Services 
• Pauline E. Longtin, Dining Services

Student leaders and �ֲ���ý staff teamed up on a gorgeous Opening Day, Aug. 31, to help the members of the Class of 2027 get settled in their campus residences. Here’s a look, hour by hour.

7:09 a.m. Set the table

Bookended by two student Orientation leaders, Brenda Pelletier, associate director of conference and campus events, readies a table in the arcade of Commons. Soon, first-year students will flow through, picking up their room keys and �ֲ���ý IDs.

7:14 a.m. Ships ahoy

A fleet of five canoes, 1,200 water bottles per canoe, and a world of ice. That’s what goes into the iconic water stations on Opening Day and other big �ֲ���ý events. Billie Coburn, the board plan manager in dining, conferences and campus events, drives the canoes out in a �ֲ���ý pickup truck to place them beside birch trees near Commons, and chain them up there.

Launched, so to speak, several years ago, the canoe tradition is the brainchild of Christine Schwartz, associate vice president for dining, conferences, and campus events. The festive yet rustic outdoor decor spices up the lawns around campus, while keeping folks hydrated on busy �ֲ���ý days.

The outdoorsy water stations have holes in them to allow the melted ice to drain out, which lightens the canoes when it’s time for removal.

They’re tethered to trees to keep hi-jinks minded students at bay. “Two years ago, students dragged them into Lake Andrews. It must have been at Commencement, when there was mischief making. They’re not easy to get out of the water,” said John Lajoie, associate director of dining services.

7:42 a.m. Gotta scoot

Zooming along Alumni Walk, Molly Newton ’11, senior associate dean of students, sports a Barbie-pink skirt complete with a bright pink Jetson Jupiter Jumbo light-up scooter — a stunning fusion of premeditation and serendipity.

Newton, well known for using a scooter to move about campus for her work, had the outfit selected for some time, but the new scooter was last-minute addition to the ensemble, thanks to Suzie Nattress, who manages the college electronic access system and who bought the scooter and brought it to Newton’s office the day before.

7:53 a.m. Tick tock

Cal Dagner ’27 of Crozet, Va., watches an early morning football practice on Garcelon Field, flanked by her parents, Anne and Donovan. 

They were just killing time, they said, waiting for the 8 a.m. opening of Commons for first-year student registration. Cal Dagner will be rowing for �ֲ���ý, but she’s most excited for the snow. “I’m looking forward to learning to ski!”

7:56 a.m. Wishing wall 

Waiting outside Commons for first-years passing by en route to their residences was a free-swag raffle and a Wishing Wall. The Bobcat swag raffle used to be a one-and-done event, but this year the raffle continued throughout orientation weekend to be more inclusive.

The Wishing Wall invited first-years to share their aspirations for their first �ֲ���ý year, such as: “Friends,” “Have work/life balance,” “Make memories,” even the boast: “Become a billionaire.”

“Everyone comments on that one,” said Kate Schulze ‘26 of Hudson, Ohio, who helped run the early shift at the information table.

From left are Sadie Kriegler ’24 of Greenwich, Ct., Audrey Esteves ’26 of Cranford, N.J., Sophie Man-Hudspith ’26 of New York, N.Y., Julia Jeong ’24 of Clifton, Va., and Aydan Gedeon-Hope ’25 of Norton, Mass.

8:01 a.m. All keyed up

The routine on Opening Day is that first-year students — like Brendan Kelly ’27 of Dallas — get dropped off on the Central Avenue side of Commons, walk inside to get their IDs, keys, and some �ֲ���ý swag, and depart on the Alumni Walk side.

For many first-year students, this is their first moment on their own as a �ֲ���ý student. But they’re not alone for long: outside Commons, a cohort of student Orientation students leaders staff an information table with candy, maps, stickers, and even a raffle chance.

8:15 a.m. Great day to be a bobcat!

A buoyant President Garry W. Jenkins and his husband, Jon Lee, greet Alex Appleton ‘27 of White Bear Township, Minn., as he arrives on campus on Opening Day. Jenkins and Lee came to greet new students outside Commons.

8:22 a.m. Traffic control

�ֲ���ý staff are stationed on Central Avenue, outside Commons, to greet and guide incoming families.

Among the staff is Jeremy McFarland, a counselor with Admission. The Admission team spends a better part of a year getting to know prospective �ֲ���ý students through their application materials. “It’s so great to be part of this exciting moment for students,” he said. “It’s so nice to see some familiar faces and get to meet the students who I’ve been reading and talking about.”

8:43 a.m. Three degrees

Jenkins greets Sophia Levine ’27 of Charlottesville, Va., as she moves her gear into Kalperis Hall.

Sophia’s parents, Alison Levine and Stephen Levine, are graduates of Haverford Colllege, as is Jenkins. “We didn’t know each other in college,” said Alison, who had just learned that Jenkins is “a fellow ‘Ford.”

The Levines weren’t expecting to see the new �ֲ���ý president as part of their move-in experience, but then, mirabile dictu, Jenkins “walks into my daughter’s first year dorm room, which was just kind of sweet.”

8:46 a.m. Team effort

The family that makes a bed together, stays together. The Smiths of Essex, Mass., show how. From left, Claire, Chris, and Annie Smith ’27.

8:49 a.m. Rolling out the welcome mat

Owen Gammill ’26 of Seattle, an AESOP trip leader, assists first-year students moving into Kalperis Hall by carrying a rug in from Campus Avenue.

9:13 a.m. Wipe out

Facility Services staff wipe down the rows of chairs set up on the Historic Quad for the annual welcome by President Jenkins and other college leaders later in the day. With 850 chairs to tackle, it’s a team effort.

9:52 a.m. Leap into a new era

Three student Orientation leaders welcome new students under the skybridge at Gillespie Hall. From left, Maddy Ewell ’24 of Ridgewood, N.J., Kendall Jones ’25 of Plymouth, N.H., and May Whelan ’25 of Bristol, R.I.

10:08 a.m. (Not) all by myshelf

New �ֲ���ý parent Amanda McGovern and her young son, Liam, sit on the floor of a common space in Gillespie Hall putting together a bookshelf for Amanda’s older son, Jack McGovern ‘27 of New York, N.Y. Amanda holds the pieces steady while Liam pushes bolts into holes and screws them in.

“It gives him a little extra storage,” she says.

10:44 a.m. Sing out loud

On a high-energy day, several student orientation leaders take a breather from moving to bust some dance moves on Alumni Walk. From left, Rylee Eaton ’25 of Little Deer Isle, Me., Livia Bernhardt ’24 of Salisbury, Vt., Rosina Makwabe ’26 of Arusha, Tanzania, Verina Chatata ’26 of Lilongwe, Malawi, and Hope Stafford ’26 of Mountain View, Calif.

10:54 a.m. A telling hug

A fun fact about James Reese, who joined the �ֲ���ý Student Affairs team in 1977, just after graduating from Middlebury College: some of the students he knew back in the 1970s now have grandchildren at �ֲ���ý.

Which is to say that Reese, who came to �ֲ���ý the same year Apple debuted the Apple II computer, knows a lot of alumni. Here, Reese greets Benny Bogyo ’27 of Redwood City, Calif., the son of Matt Bogyo ’93 and Becky Allen Bogyo ’94.

We asked Reese to share what it feels like to observe a new generation of �ֲ���ý students arriving with their alumni parents. This is what Reese said:

Within the joy apparent in the graduate family, there is a noticeable rush, akin to a ripple or a wave — a flow of feelings and emotions that is quite detectable going back and forth when I meet grads who are dropping off their now college-aged children. 

The younger family member shows a duality, facing a welcomed mystery in this place that they have heard so much about across their lives from the parent(s) and friends.  

The feeling from the parent(s) is palpable. Clearly the adult really wanted the child to be here (often sharing with me their tough challenge of having to stay quiet while the decision was being made). The hug from the parent to me often feels like it contains the joy of the child’s decision.  

There are smiles; postures of pride; and immense optimism about the learning, the experiences, the associations, and the discoveries that will come — all familial in a �ֲ���ý way.

11:05 a.m. Big day, big lift

Andy Wilson of Medfield, Mass., hauls a mini fridge through Page Hall for his daughter Lara ’27.

11:14 a.m. Words to live by

Otis Caron ’24 of Lewiston, Maine, shows the tattoo he got to honor his late father, David, with an acronym for his dad’s advice, “think before you speak,” and the one got to honor his mom, �ֲ���ý senior visual designer Tammy Caron, with a reminder of her advice: “Patience is a virtue.”

The whole family turned out to help first-year student Ella move into her room.

11:17 a.m. Doggone great crew

Visiting dogs get welcomed on Opening Day, too.

On the lawn behind Page Hall, student Orientation leaders Wyatt Holder ’26 of Wilmette, Ill., Chase Buzzell ’25 of Saco, Maine, Ingrid Lam ’26 of Portland, Ore., and Sofia Hahn ‘24 of Tuxedo Park, N.Y., welcome Hrothgar, named after the ruler of the Danes in the epic Beowulf, on campus with David Hermanson ’27 of Cambridge, Mass.

11:35 a.m. The halls are alive

In Gillespie Hall, Eric Preisig ’27 of North Falmouth, Mass., takes a break from putting together his room to tune his cello. He’s been playing for 12 years, and is excited to find places to play on campus.

2:06 p.m. Sharing and caring

International first-years and their parents gather in the Fireside Lounge in Commons on Opening Day to listen to Reese explain how, as the associate dean of international student programs, he will watch over their children, help them in any way he can, and be a friend to them.

3:15 p.m. Welcome to �ֲ���ý

�ֲ���ý’ newest families gather in front of Coram to hear welcomes from three college leaders.

Leigh Weisenburger, vice president for enrollment and dean of admission and financial aid, speaks of the pride she and her team felt in helping the new students find their college.

Dean of Students Erin Foster Zsiga follows with warm words about entering a brand new community. “Be kind to yourself, particularly when you may experience moments of self-doubt. It takes time to build your life in a new place. If no one has told you yet, let me be the first: You are here for a reason. You belong at �ֲ���ý.”

President Garry W. Jenkins closed the afternoon welcome, telling the students, families, and loved ones that they are all joining a special, kind, and committed community. “Be open to newness, find deeper connections with people whose experiences and backgrounds, and taste in music, may be different from yours,” he said. “I guarantee you, you’re going to be enriched by the process. My college friends are still among my closest friends and confidants in the world.”

3:45 p.m. ‘It’s lived here’

Mya Hicks ‘27 leans on her mother, Monica Hicks, while sitting beside her dad, Tyrone Hicks. The family from Ann Arbor, Mich., was sad to say goodbye. But after hearing Jenkins’ remarks, Monica and Tyrone both said they knew their daughter was in a good place. 

“We are super excited. We are a family of color and to have a president of color so interested in the students, the community, and in welcoming all sorts of people of different genders and races, it drives it home, he means it,” Monica Hicks said of Jenkins’ welcome. “Other people say those things, but it’s obvious it’s lived here. You can see it on a college website but to be here and hear that, it is the culture here, it’s important to know that.”

Tyrone Hicks added: “What resonates with me is that I had a college experience, but I never had a college community. That’s what I want for my daughter. Everyone says this is a community.”

3:55 p.m. Brotherly love

Noah Faragher Houghton ‘27 and his 10-year-old brother, Arlo, of Monroe, Maine, had a tearful goodbye on the Historic Quad as Opening Day became a bittersweet closing. “I’m excited. And I’m sad,” Noah said. “I’m going to miss him.”

Noah tried to convince his younger brother that they wouldn’t be that far away from each other. (Located 80 miles northeast of campus, Monroe is home to a population of 930 in Midcoast, Maine.)

Their mother, Kate Faragher Houghton ‘91, comforted Arlo as he teared up and hugged his brother. “You’ll come visit,” she told Arlo. “You’ll lay on his bed like you did today. He’s been a great brother. He’s still a great brother. He’ll still help show you the way.”

4:05 p.m. Farewell, but not goodbye

Jake Podgurski ‘27 of Canton, Mass., didn’t hold back his tears as he said goodbye to his mom, Lori Jablonski ‘88, who also was crying.

As Jabolinski sat with her son, daughter, Liv Podgurski, and her ex-husband, Paul Podgurski, all sandwiched together on a bench by the Mouthpiece, Jablonski said they were united in their sadness as they said farewell to Jake, even though “ironically we’re divorced.”

“We’re getting the band back together,” Jake quipped. 

As students return to campus, and the 509-member Class of 2027 take their first steps as Bobcats, some things are new, some old things have been updated, and others have been moved, renamed, or remixed — but it’s all still �ֲ���ý!

To help our �ֲ���ý community of alumni, parents, friends — and the campus folks too! — navigate these changes, here is a comprehensive A to Z list. And no fair scrolling to see what’s Z!

A

The college’s Annual Entering Student Orientation Program, AESOP for short, kicks off on Saturday when the 509 members of the newly arrived �ֲ���ý Class of 2027 head out on 57 three-day trips led by 114 student trip leaders across Maine and into New Hampshire.

What’s new with AESOP is a much more intentional effort to make the trips fun and accessible for all students by offering a wider variety of trips, from the Maine coast to the mountains and also near campus in and around Lewiston-Auburn. 

B

New and returning Bobcats stepped onto a new surface at Garcelon Field. A product called Legion, made by Shaw Sports Turf, the new artificial turf replaces the surface that was installed in 2010 and had reached the limit of its useful life. Our Campus Construction Update reports on the final steps of the installation.

ThenNow

An aerial view of Garcelon Field before and after its turf replacement. Use your mouse to grab the slider (or swipe your finger if on a phone or tablet) to reveal more or less of each image. (Branden Rush/�ֲ���ý College)

C

After a yearlong renovation, Chase Hall has reopened as a significant new resource for the 2023–24 academic year. Dedicated in 1919, the historic campus building has been transformed into a vibrant hub for student programs and services, plus the venerable Bobcat Den. The Chase Hall reopening signifies an exciting chapter for the institution, offering enhanced resources and a dynamic environment for the �ֲ���ý College community.

Also new: the renamed student leadership position Community Advisor, formerly Residence Coordinator. Why the name change? “Because creating community is what these students do,” explains Jimmy Riley, director of residence life and community standards.

The renaming also includes an expansion in health education work and health education programming responsibilities for their residential communities each semester. “In addition, they will also support one large programming week per semester, in which larger-scale programs will be open to the entire student body.” 

D

After being closed for a year during the major renovation to Chase Hall, the Bobcat Den is reopened for business. The Den isn’t new, but “we’ve got a new smoothie machine,” reports Christine Schwartz, assistant vice president for dining, conferences, and campus events. “And the smoothies will be made with natural juices,” adds Cheryl Lacey, director of dining services.

E

New electricity for Maine, thanks to a solar array in Skowhegan created in partnership with ReVision Energy, a leading solar facilities provider in Maine, to establish a photovoltaic array on more than 20 acres of countryside in the town of Skowhegan. The array, which will begin feeding current into the grid on Sept. 5, comprises nearly 18,500 panels that will generate 7.131 megawatts of direct current, or DC, which will be converted to alternating current, or AC, for grid distribution to businesses and residences.

F

Underscoring a rarity in higher education, the college’s career program, the Center for Purposeful Work, has a strong presence in the curriculum, including this fall’s new First-Year Seminar, “Purpose, Work, and College: A Holistic Introduction to Purposeful Work at �ֲ���ý,” taught by �ֲ���ý alum Marianne Nolan Cowan ’92, associate director for program design with the center.

“Very, very few of our peers have any connection between the curriculum and discussion of work, especially if it comes from the college’s career program,” says Senior Associate Dean Allen Delong, who oversees the center.

G

Take a bite of this, Bobcats! Coming in hot for its first academic year on the prowl is �ֲ���ý’ new food truck, the Grab ’n Growl, featuring aesthetics lovingly designed from bumper to back door, a marvelous menu to tempt any hungry student, and a curated music playlist (not unlike an ice cream truck’s) to beckon Bobcats from every corner of campus.

H

The reason for improvements to Hathorn Hall’s third floor and attic will eventually ring clear. Easier access to that building’s belfry will create a path toward fixing the historic bell’s electric ringing mechanism, which has become unreliable and potentially hazardous in recent years.

I

The new Immersive Media Studio, located in a former classroom and computer lab in Coram Library, is close to completion. Funded by a $500,000 grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, the facility will support instruction in and production of high-tech performances and installations incorporating sound, live action, and projected imagery.

J

As of the publication date of this story, Garry W. Jenkins has been president for 62 days, 10 hours, 32 minutes. But who’s counting? At yesterday’s Opening Day, he welcomed the new families. “Hello!” he boomed from the lectern. A parent, from far back under the shade of maple, boomed a response: “Hello!”

K

Funded by an important grant, the college’s new first-generation program, the Kessler Scholars Program, seeks to “provide holistic support for a diverse community of high-achieving students who are the first in their family to pursue a four-year college degree.” 

L

As the venerable card catalog recedes further into the past with an updated online library search engine, sensibly named LibrarySearch is now “up and running,” says Ben Peck, associate college librarian for research services. “The new system will provide many improved services, notably the ability to discover materials from our database subscriptions and our print and ebook holdings simultaneously, faster search results, a mobile-friendly interface, and additional search features and filters for precision search strategies.”

M

�ֲ���ý welcomes seven new George J. Mitchell Scholars in the Class of 2027. Named for the former longtime U.S. senator from Maine, who was born in Waterville, scholarship program has a central tenet that mirrors �ֲ���ý’, that “no Maine student with the qualifications and ambition to pursue a college education should be denied that opportunity due to limited financial resources.”

Also new: a beloved campus landmark, the Mouthpiece bulletin board, was replaced with a new version handcrafted by the �ֲ���ý carpentry shop to look just like the old one, which had succumbed to the ravages of time (and ants).

N

There’s a new name for a building that’s been around since 2007. Long known simply by its street address, 280 College Street, the residence hall next to Rand Hall is now Gillespie Hall, honoring John Gillespie ’80, whose engagement with �ֲ���ý spans more than four decades and two generations, including 20 years on the Board of Trustees and four years as chair. 

O

The Overnook is a signature feature in the newly remodeled Chase Hall. With a counter and seating that overlooks the building’s first-floor lobby, it’s both a cozy nook in which to chill and a great vantage point on Chase traffic.

P

The two programs to support student learning have a new space and name: the Peer Learning Commons on the ground floor of Ladd Library. 

The commons simplifies and creates a single home for two student-focused programs. One is the Student Academic Support Center, which offers peer tutoring in mathematics, statistics, quantitative social sciences, computational studies, and the natural and physical sciences. Grace Coulombe leads this facility. The second is the Student Writing and Language Center, led by Bridget Fullerton. 

“Now students can really come to one place for everything they need — a one-stop shop,” says Eric Dyer, assistant director for learning strategies with the Student Academic Support Center.

The tutoring and peer learning programs at �ֲ���ý date back to the early 1980s with the creation of the Writing Workshop. In those days, tutoring programs at �ֲ���ý and elsewhere often had a deficit model: students were bad writers. Today’s PLC focused on growth and support — “the value of helping others and seeking help when needed,” says Fullerton.

Q

Bobcats headed to Merrill Gymnasium for a swim can expect to step into shiny new changing quarters by mid-October, with a revamp of the locker rooms, featuring expanded spaces, new lockers for general community use, and increased accessibility to the gender-neutral bathroom.

R

Bobcats can look forward to pumpkins surprises at the Ronj this fall. The student-operated cafe, located on Frye Street, says the surprise specials are still under wraps but the �ֲ���ý community can “look forward to grabbing an autumnal latte” soon.

S

Not necessarily new, but newly revitalized, study abroad participation did a nosedive during the pandemic. In 2020–21, just 32 �ֲ���ý students were able to go abroad. “But we’re completely back now,” says Darren Gallant, associate dean and director of the center for global education.

“During the 2022–23 academic year, 214 �ֲ���ý students studied off-campus. In 2023–24, 334 �ֲ���ý students plan to study off-campus. While off-campus study never stopped at �ֲ���ý, students are excited to re-engage with the world in higher numbers.”

T

Trees, which �ֲ���ý routinely replaces, when they’re diseased. For example, along Alumni Walk, defined by its grove of white birches, the college’s landscapers are slowly replacing those birches — which have been susceptible to birch borers, a pesky wood-boring beetle — with hardier river birches.

U

From the College Store, a new item: biodegradable �ֲ���ý-branded utensils. Made from wheat straw polypropylene, the sets of collapsible forks, knives and spoons are biodegradable, sustainable and renewable — and gluten allergen friendly!

V

At the college’s Post & Print operation, a robust new wide-format printer, Roland, can output 54-inch products for many applications such as banners, stickers, die-cut vinyl, interior and exterior signage.

W

During the first week of autumn, �ֲ���ý will offer Well-Being Week, a new effort geared to providing students with resources that support their physical, mental, and emotional health.

X

The campus looks gorgeous after a summer with above-average rainfall, which also means lots of hours on the campus lawnmowers. Luckily, the grounds crew has just taken delivery of a new 60-inch zero-turn mower from eXmark.

Y

Another new item in the College Store, a �ֲ���ý-branded yo-yo:

Z 

Zoom isn’t new, we know. At �ֲ���ý, we’re at more than 3.9 million Zoom meeting minutes since the start of the calendar year, generated by 25,500 meetings. As far as what’s new? Our favorite new feature is the ability to use PowerPoint presentations as virtual backgrounds. Feel free to geek .

With yesterday’s arrival of the �ֲ���ý Class of 2027, the final and most telling number of the 2022–23 admission cycle got etched into �ֲ���ý history. The number is 509, the number of students in the newest class of �ֲ���ý students, which was selected from 8,937 applications, the highest number in �ֲ���ý history. 

Better than anyone, Leigh Weisenburger, the college’s vice president for enrollment and dean of admission and financial aid, knows what the new students bring to the �ֲ���ý table. “Engagement and action,” she says. “They’re problem solvers,” young people who are quite capable of putting out fires (sometimes literally: two new students are firefighters) and finding the key to problems (again, sometimes literally: one is a locksmith apprentice).

“They’re the Greta Thunberg generation,” added Weisenburger, referring to the Swedish environmental activist. (In fact, one incoming student joined a Thunberg-led protest in Stockholm.)

Full Coverage

We’ll bring you full coverage of Opening Day and Orientation Week, including weekend AESOP outdoor trips, next week. In the meantime, .

Beyond straightforward advocacy, the new students bring an awareness of how various issues, from climate change to racial justice, intersect with one another, and they feel a drive to be part of solutions for the long term. “They see something and they take it and run with it. They don’t wait for others to take action,” Weisenburger says.

One of the dean’s delightful duties each year is to join the �ֲ���ý president (this year Garry W. Jenkins in his first Opening Day) and Dean of Students Erin Foster Zsiga in welcoming the new students and their families and loved ones on Opening Day. 

For Weisenburger, it’s one of the best moments of her year. “I feel such pride — for the Admission team and for �ֲ���ý as a whole. And I see pride and emotion in the new students’ and their families’ faces and eyes. And also a mix of intention and hesitation: It’s time to begin a new journey.”

The new �ֲ���ý class is the 161st incoming class in college history. Back in 1863, the first cohort entered Hathorn Hall, then the sole campus classroom building for their college studies, and they hailed from our home city of Lewiston and also from lands beyond �ֲ���ý, such as Wales, Vienna, Norway, Lebanon, and Peru. (OK: Truth be told, those early students came from towns in Maine with those international names!)

As usual, within just 509 young people is a dazzling amount of diversity, broadly defined, which means that “students who come to �ֲ���ý will find their place in this community,” says Weisenburger. 

Geographically, the distribution of incoming students from the U.S. looks like this, which is a similar breakdown to prior years:

• Middle Atlantic 22%
• Midwest 7%
• New England 36%
• Southeast 6%
• Southwest and West 17%

Forty-four U.S. states are represented in the class, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Forty-one students come from Maine, from its largest city, Portland, with a population of 68,000, to tiny villages like Oquossoc, population 120.

In this year’s class, 28% are U.S. students of color, the fourth straight year above 27%. In terms of gender identification, 48 % are female and 52 % male. This bucks national trends: Women comprise nearly 60 % of enrollment in universities and colleges and men just over 40%.

Similar to prior years, 12% are first-generation college students, while 11% are international students, coming to �ֲ���ý from 37 countries outside of the U.S. 

Skills and Talents from a Record-Setting Class 

Other interesting talents and interests from the new class include students who:

• Is featured in a documentary about the immense challenges of being a girl growing up in Palestine
• Has a keen interest in fossil hunting
• Is an expert cheesemonger
• Was a Youth Action Fellow for their state’s affiliate 350, a national movement to advance a just transition to a renewable energy economy, leading protests at the state capital
• Has performed the trapeze with a youth circus
• Has devoted more than 45 hours a week to training guide dogs, including service as a volunteer raising puppies
• Is a soccer referee (a cool thing given the national shortage of youth sports officials)
• Volunteers as a foster caregiver for rats, ensuring they can be adopted as pets
• Is a kite maker and preservationist who saved 20 traditional Bangladeshi kites in their homeland from destruction
• Assembled and maintains a 175 gallon saltwater aquarium in their basement, which is about 6 feet long, two feet wide, and two and a half feet tall
• Founded their school’s skateboard club to create a supportive space for women, people of color, and queers
• Founded a youth organization helping to increase women in STEM in Mongolia
• Has been visiting memory care facilities with her dog since eighth grade 
• Attended the same high school in New Jersey as new �ֲ���ý President Garry W. Jenkins
• Is a top-ranked debater in a U.S. state with a long debate tradition and No. 28 nationally
• One student makes Adirondack chairs; another co-founded club that knits and crochets hats, scarves, and more for those in need; another is welder for a robotics team 
• Had an internship working on electric space propulsion at MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics; another student was a member of their NASA Student Launch team
• Helped install the Field of Light at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, illuminating 16 acres in the Texas Arboretum with 28,000 vibrant solar-powered, fiber-optic lights
• Initiated a successful movement to eliminate class rank at their school
• Interned at an oyster farm
• Is a nationally ranked competitive roller skater
• Is an accomplished fencer
• Is a competitive book reader 
• Co-founded world’s first competitive high school gravel cycling team, which involves racing bicycles on unpaved and varied terrain, often over long distances
• Conducted research at MIT on corn sequestration and climate change
• Runs a Maine business selling firewood
• Founded lobster and aquaculture oyster businesses
• Is an apprentice locksmith and a blacksmith apprentice
• Is a successful business entrepreneur in several fields, including as a reseller of limited-edition apparel
• Volunteered as a coordinator for eight animal shelters and four animal hospitals
• Interned for a Nobel-winning scholar to research the significance of early childhood education on economic outcomes
• Is a competitive Rubik’s Cube solver
• Directs a unified theater program that brings together teens of all cognitive abilities.

This year, 8,937 prospective students — the highest number ever — applied to join the �ֲ���ý College Class of 2027.

Of those, 1,100 were offered admission. And in April, nearly 250 traveled to �ֲ���ý on one of two days in April set aside for newly admitted students and families to learn more about the college.

On the first visit day, about a dozen of those admitted students, perhaps pointed in the right direction by their Guidebook app, made their way to a Pettengill Hall classroom to get a real taste of �ֲ���ý academics, in the form of a master class led by a �ֲ���ý history professor.

On the one hand, visit days are tightly choreographed, kicking off with a student a cappella performance and welcomes from President Clayton Spencer and Leigh Weisenburger, vice president for enrollment and dean of admission and financial aid. 

On the other, the overall goal is to deliver authenticity. “It is a carefully planned event, but we also try to just roll with the day — allowing students and families to explore �ֲ���ý as they wish,” Weisenburger says. “And I think it keeps �ֲ���ý real.”

Helping to deliver that reality are master classes, including one led by Associate Professor of History Joe Hall about the who and why of the college’s founding in 1855.

Freewill Baptist religious leaders founded �ֲ���ý, he explained. They believed that “all human beings have a certain respect in God’s eyes.” So, all human beings should respect each other — “and thus slavery was evil.” And not just white men should have access to education, but all people, a spirit of inclusion that led to the founding of �ֲ���ý.

“It makes me think a little bit more critically,” said a young woman from Texas. “How can I say that I’m opposed to these struggles but still funding them?”

Supporting the founders were Lewiston textile mill owners, including namesake Benjamin �ֲ���ý, who were making bales of money from cotton grown in Southern slave-holding states before the Civil War. After explaining these facts, Hall invited the would-be Bobcats to think about that contradiction — abolitionist founders and cotton profiteers — and what it means today. “What do you do with it?” he asked. 

“It makes me think a little bit more critically,” said a young woman from Texas, noting that the smart phone in front of her might have metals sourced from problematic mines. “How can I say that I’m opposed to these struggles but still funding them?”

That’s the kind of experience — a student having one-on-one time with a �ֲ���ý faculty member — that President Clayton Spencer says can help a prospective student make their final college choice, whether it’s �ֲ���ý or another college that has offered admission.

“What I’ve learned in life is that even if you have only great choices, it can be hard to figure out which one is right,” said Spencer. 

Like her own choice to accept the �ֲ���ý presidency in 2012, Spencer said that making a big decision means taking in both facts and feelings, “not just the ‘what’ information — �ֲ���ý is in Lewiston, Maine — but also the feel of the place. Does it kind of hit me right in my gut? You take in factual criteria plus emotional criteria and decide if �ֲ���ý is right for you. That’s making an informed judgment.”

In getting to know �ֲ���ý, for example, Spencer’s intuition told her that the student culture was distinctive, “very down to earth, more collaborative than competitive, which I love. And it’s been proven to be just incredibly true since I’ve been here.”

This year’s cohort of admitted students came from two rounds of Early Decision plus Regular Decision. The latter group’s deadline for informing �ֲ���ý of their decision is May 1. In addition to the two visit days, �ֲ���ý offers other ways for admitted students to engage with �ֲ���ý, including a fly-in program called �ֲ���ý Beginnings, giving invited students who are traditionally underrepresented in higher education a chance to visit campus.

When Weisenburger welcomes students and families to visit day, she hits �ֲ���ý high notes, and an octave above the rest this year is the recent appointment of the college’s next president, Garry W. Jenkins. Other highlights that get a mention are the 2021 opening of Bonney Science Center, the 2022 reopening of renovated Dana Hall as a science teaching center, and the fall reopening of historic Chase Hall (dedicated in 1919), significantly restored and revamped for student-facing programs.

This year’s visit days were the first since the pre-pandemic year of 2019 to offer a wall-to-wall day of activities, which allowed Admission to give the day a vivid arc.

So after morning greetings, a few master classes, and topical discussions, such as sustainability at �ֲ���ý, the mid-day hour featured a keynote talk in Gomes Chapel. The theme was �ֲ���ý engagement with Lewiston, and the featured speaker was alumna Julia Sleeper-Whiting ’08, co-founder and executive director of focused on leadership and youth development.

The keynote theme sends a key message, says Weisenburger. “We want students to understand that they can really ingrain themselves in the community.” She makes the point during her morning introduction saying that “Lewiston will be as much a part of your four-year experience as �ֲ���ý will.” 

Sleeper-Whiting, who co-founded Tree Street Youth as a student, personifies that reality, telling her audience how profound it was for her when she graduated from �ֲ���ý that her students from Lewiston came to Commencement — she felt her worlds come together.

“You can come to �ֲ���ý and make community here, and also make community in Lewiston,” Weisenburger said. “That’s important for all of us. And certainly important to show our new students.”

In admission-speak, the process of enrolling first-year students is described as a funnel because it starts with a big number — folks who have an inkling of interest in a college — at the top and ends with a much smaller number, students who decide that �ֲ���ý is for them. 

Here’s what the �ֲ���ý funnel looked like this year:

• 35,410: inquiries from students who engaged with �ֲ���ý through a visit, requesting information, or other way
• 8,937: total applications from first-year students
• 1,100: total admitted students
• 505: target number

This year’s admit rate — the percentage of applicants admitted — was 12.3 percent, the second lowest for �ֲ���ý.

Of the 1,100 students offered admission, 49 U.S. states are represented, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and more than 60 countries. Thirty-nine percent self-identify as students of color, and 13 percent will be the first in their family to attend college. Eleven percent are non-U.S. citizens. 

Here’s the U.S. geographic breakdown:

• New England 26%
• Middle Atlantic 25%
• Midwest 8%
• Southeast 8%
• Southwest and West 20%

After the U.S., the countries with the largest number of admitted students are China (19), United Kingdom (12), India (11), Canada (7), Costa Rica (5), Pakistan (4), and Switzerland (4).

In terms of secondary education, the public school / private school split is about 50-50, and Pell-eligible students represent 13.5% of admitted students. This year’s incoming class will receive financial aid in part from the Schuler Access Initiative, a $100 million expansion of financial aid to enroll students from the lowest-income families.

The Class of 2027 arrives at �ֲ���ý on Aug. 31.