Director of Admissions' Remarks
Opening Convocation Remarks
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Chris Markle, Director of Admissions
Good afternoon. As director of admissions, I have the honor of presenting the Susquehanna University Class of 2013, our new transfer students, and new exchange students.
Today, we expect 680 new students—627 first-year, 43 transfer, and 10 exchange students—to arrive for the opening of our 152nd academic year.
First-year students, you are members of the largest Susquehanna class ever. You were selected from the largest applicant pool in the University’s history, and admission was competitive. Yours is among the most well-qualified first-year classes in Susquehanna’s history. Twenty-six percent of you ranked in the top 10th of your high school classes, 47 percent ranked in the top fifth, and 78 percent ranked in the top two-fifths. Fourteen of you were the valedictorian or salutatorian of your high school classes. The average of your critical reading and math SAT scores is 125 points above the national average. In fact, 59 percent of you who submitted SATs scored 1100 or above, over 29 percent scored above 1200, and 9 percent scored above 1300 on the SATs.
Seventy-two new students are enrolling as members of Susquehanna's Honors Program, which is beginning its 27th year.
Our best estimates show that combined, our 680 new students traveled nearly one million miles during the college search process. We are pleased to welcome you to your new home away from home. Geographically, we welcome our new students from down the street and around the world. You join us from 19 states and seven countries. Fifty-one percent of you are from Pennsylvania. You also represent the great states of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming. We are also very pleased to welcome you from Canada, China, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, and Russia. Our new international and foreign exchange students are represented by the flags in front of the stage.
You have selected majors from nearly every department at Susquehanna. The most popular choices include accounting, biology, business administration, communications, creative writing, earth and environmental science, elementary education/liberal studies, English, graphic design, history, music, political science, and psychology. About 17 percent of you have chosen not to declare a major yet, preferring instead to begin as "liberal arts open." The majority of you are planning study beyond the Bachelor's degree.
Fifty-three percent of our new students are women. There are 32 students whose parents or grandparents are graduates of Susquehanna; 40 who are the siblings, cousins, nieces or nephews of current or former Susquehanna students. Also, we’re very pleased that our first Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program member, Iraq War veteran Clint Mettler, is a member of The Class of 2013.
Most of you were born in 1990 or 1991. You probably have a hard time remembering when cutting and pasting involved scissors, Google has always been a verb, and “a coffee” usually takes longer to make than a milkshake. Thirty-two of you share six birthdays – March 1st, April 16th, April 22nd, July 9th, and tomorrow…August 28th. And…a special happy birthday to Renee Aber, Levi Dodge, Peter Donhauser, Clarissa Goss, and Charlay Yates who are celebrating their big day today! Happy birthday!
Among the men, 26 percent of you have the first name of Andrew, Christopher, John or Jonathan, Justin, Matthew, Michael or Tyler. Among the women, 29 percent of you are named Allison, Catherine, Elizabeth, Emily, Kristen, Lauren, Megan, Rachael, Rebecca or Sara.
From Aber to Zanella, this class has it all from A to Z. Your class includes four Allens, four Andersons, four Browns and four Millers and the Cooper, Gilbert and Sahaida twins. Apparently, this may be a group of potential leaders….we have Kennedy and Johnson as well as Jackson, Pierce and Wilson. We expect many needs to be met as we have a Gardner, Shepherd, Shumaker and a Weaver. A few things we wonder: What will Lewis and Clark find as they make their way across campus? Will Bogar, Smith and Reed live in Aikens? Will Hoover and Dyson have the cleanest floors in their residence hall? Will Sweet and Valentine find romance? Will Bacon and Berger work out together in the fitness center? Will Dodge and Ford ask Gas and Rust what they think of the Cash for Clunkers program? Will we ever see Cullen out and about on a sunny day? These answers are yet to come.
Students, you bring exceptional extracurricular accomplishments with you to Susquehanna. Sixteen percent of you were student government or class council members, with 28 of you having served as president or vice president. Twenty-five percent of the class was inducted into the National Honor Society, and six led the organization as president or vice president. One hundred ten of you were dramatic or musical theatre performers, with 13 having had leading roles. One hundred twenty-eight class members participated in band or orchestra, and 117 joined vocal organizations. Eighty seven of you wrote for or edited your yearbooks, newspapers, or literary magazines; 13 were editors-in-chief.
Three hundred ninty-six of you, 63 percent of the class, played varsity sports, and 118, nearly 20 percent of our first-year class, captained or co-captained your varsity athletic teams. Thirteen of you are Eagle Scouts, and 5 earned the Girl Scout's Gold Award. Thirty-three percent of the class did volunteer work through your schools, 52 percent volunteered your time and talents to your community, and 22 percent were active in your churches and synagogues.
Combined, your admissions essays totaled nearly 400,000 words. We learned much about you and your past challenges and successes, as well as your hopes and dreams. You told us about the thrill of visiting a new city for the first time, helping a friend work through a personal crisis, what you learned from hosting an exchange student in your home, and many of you wrote about the impact that your family has had on you and your development as a young adult.
Some envision yourselves as successful physicians, journalists, financial managers, researchers, youth counselors and responsible regional or national leaders. Others expect to contribute through law, the arts, the ministry, or teaching. You believe that your enrollment at Susquehanna will make a positive difference in all aspects of your lives. At the same time, you recognize the role that you have in making that difference.
Students, you should be proud of all that you have accomplished up to this point. We have confidence that each of you has the potential and ability to distinguish yourself in a variety of ways while you are here, and we look forward to following your new accomplishments.
On behalf of all who helped bring our new students together—your family, the members of the admissions staff, the financial aid staff, our faculty, coaches, other University staff members, alumni, current students, and friends of the University, it gives me great pleasure to present the Class of 2013, our new transfers, and new exchange students.
Will our new students please stand and be recognized?
