High Achieving, Multicultural Incoming Class Arrives

The annual fall harvest of new students arrived at Westmont on August 27 for Orientation and the Warrior Welcome. They included about 400 first-year, transfer and nursing students, with 38 joining two other cohorts seeking degrees in the accelerated 16-month Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing.

The college attracted and enrolled an accomplished incoming class with an average GPA of 3.9. President Gayle D. Beebe greeted students individually as they arrived at the entrance to campus, part of the Westmont tradition of hospitality and care.

Students expressed the most interest in majoring in economics and business (16%), kinesiology (12%), biology (9%) and psychology (7%). Sixteen percent have yet to specify a possible major.

Families raved about the assistance and first-class service from athletic teams who moved students into residence halls by emptying cars of boxes and bedding. At the Welcome Session, the admissions team passed the baton to professors and student life staff, and President Beebe, now in his 19th year, officially welcomed the new Warriors.

First-generation students and their families as well as international students participated in the First Connections Pre-Orientation program, which emphasized the cultural transition and interpersonal connections vital to thriving in college.

After the Service of Commitment, a formal ceremony with professors in academic regalia welcoming students to the Westmont community, the newcomers took their First Walk through the Formal Gardens to Kerrwood Lawn led by bagpipe fanfare. This longstanding tradition anticipates their Last Walk at Commencement from Kerrwood to Thorrington Field.

In 2007, when most first-year students were born, Gayle D. Beebe became Westmont’s eighth president. That year, Apple first introduced iPhones, the final Harry Potter book arrived, Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House of Representatives, Bob Barker hosted his last episode of the Price is Right, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for work increasing public knowledge about climate change, and Twitter users created hashtags in social media.