Freshmen will set foot on campus Aug. 26

Student orientation leaders Mary Beth Cadieux ’08, left, and Katie Serafin ’08 dress the part for a country fair they helped organize during orientation last year.

All across campus CC faculty, staff and students are preparing to welcome some 490 members of the Class of 2010 to New London this month. 

The new students come from 33 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, as well as 17 countries. Twenty-two non-U.S. citizens are enrolled, including students from Moldova, Maldives and Jordan—countries not currently represented on campus.

Ten percent of the students will be the first in their family to attend college. Thirteen percent represent domestic students of color, an increase of 18 percent over last year.

During an assembly on their first day on campus Saturday, Aug. 26, they will be welcomed by President Lee Higdon, College administrators, Alumni Association President Lynda Batter Munro ’76 P’08 and the president of the Student Government Association Evan Piekara ’07. At the ceremony freshmen will receive a small blue “passport” emblazoned with the College seal. Inside each will be a short profile of a CC alumnus and a blue rubber bracelet that says, “Camel Pride.”

The passports are a gift from the Connecticut College Alumni Association through the Office of Alumni Relations. They are given annually to each incoming class during orientation and serve as a symbol of unity among the College’s current students and 25,160 alumni. The program was launched by the alumni association in 1998 to remind freshmen and their families that they are becoming part of the College and its history.

The assembly kicks off a five-day orientation program where new students will learn about everything from the College Honor Code to its career-development programs. They will also meet their faculty advisers, take placement tests, learn about CC’s community service projects, and meet each other at a variety of social events like the traditional “Batch Blast.” The blast was established in 1988 by an anonymous donor in honor of Esther Batchelder ’19 and will include a drive-in movie, a visit from a hypnotist and games on the green.

While a student orientation committee works with faculty and staff help plan the event, “students provide all the manpower during orientation to make sure the events start on schedule and have the necessary equipment to run well,” said Jill Blodgett, assistant to the dean of freshmen. “They have such enthusiasm and such pride in what they do—we could not have a successful orientation without them.”

Parents and families are invited to tour the campus and attend mini-classes led by faculty and staff to learn more about College programs and life on campus.

Classes start on Thursday, Aug. 31. Convocation is held at 4:30 p.m. that day.