On a cool September morning, Whittier College welcomed 430 first-year and 70 transfer students, who arrived on campus for the start of New Student Orientation. Classes for all undergraduates begin September 7.
This first-year class represents 29 states – California, Hawaii, and Colorado bringing the largest numbers – and eight countries such as China, Australia, Pakistan, and Turkey. Students of color comprise 65 percent of the incoming class – which includes 48 percent male and 52 percent female students.
The Whittier College class of 2020 is incredibly talented and generous. One first year student received kung-fu training at China’s Shaolin Temple, while another is an actress, musician, and writer who is in the process of publishing a novel and calls Yellowstone National Park home. Another first year student created a fundraiser for families struggling to pay for orthodontic care – in honor of his own deceased orthodontist.
To get a sense of the incoming class and their perspective, let’s remember that technology has always been part of a way of life. During their lifetime, there has always been a digital swap meet called eBay, they have never had to watch or listen to programs at a scheduled time, and robots have always been surgical partners in the operating room.
Dozens of events for first years, transfer, commuter, international students, and their families marked a sunny and warm Move-in and Orientation Day. The new Poets and their families had lunch at the Campus Inn (CI), met with peer mentors, faculty members, as well as student and resident life staff who helped them move into Johnson or Stauffer Residence Halls.
In the evening, students participated in their first Poet rite of passage: President's Convocation, which includes the College's symbolic "Sharing the Light of Learning" ceremony. President Sharon Herzberger celebrated hundreds of new Poets and spoke about the College's outstanding faculty, leadership development, and values.
"With John Greenleaf Whittier as a role model, our founders adopted a mission to educate students to respect people of all religious backgrounds, all races and ethnicities, and from all places of origin...," said President Herzberger. "Our founders would be proud that today, as intended from our beginning, you will learn from and alongside faculty who will teach you to see the world’s challenges from multiple perspectives, and to question each one."
Relive Move-In Day and Orientation activities on Facebook.
Read President Herzberger's address to the Class of 2020.
