{"id":164676,"date":"2024-08-22T14:41:05","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T18:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=164676"},"modified":"2024-12-06T10:03:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T15:03:35","slug":"record-breaking-bates-college-class-of-2028-arrives-on-campus-aug-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2024\/08\/22\/record-breaking-bates-college-class-of-2028-arrives-on-campus-aug-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Record-breaking Bates Class of 2028 arrives to open arms on Aug. 29"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 491-member Bates Class of 2028 arrives on Thursday, Aug. 29, bringing with it youthful hopes and aspirations<\/a> \u2014 along with two new records for Bates admission. Chosen from the largest applicant pool in the college’s history, the class is also the most racially diverse ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a total of 32 percent of the class identifying as U.S. students of color, the college saw an increase in matriculation among both Black and Latinx students specifically, despite new challenges imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s 2023 ruling on college admission<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new class was selected from 10,029 applications, the third straight year of record interest in attending Bates<\/a>. This fall, the overall campus enrollment is expected to be approximately 1,780 students, with another 188 students, mostly juniors, studying abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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President Garry W. Jenkins (center) and his husband, Jon Lee (right), greet Alex Appleton \u201827 of White Bear Township, Minn., on Opening Day in 2023.. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In terms of other demographics<\/a>, the new students come from 38 states plus Washington, D.C., and 29 countries outside the U.S. Ten percent of the class is first-generation to college, and international students also comprise 10 percent of the class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The home states of the Class of 2028 reflect the college’s strategic efforts to address the shifting U.S. population. New England\u2019s share of the U.S. population continues to grow smaller, while the Southeast, Southwest, and West continue to grow. Over the last decade, Bates has increased the number of students from the Southeast, Southwest, and West by 21 percent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening Day<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The start of New Student Orientation is Opening Day, where a high-energy team of nearly 200 upperclass Bates students, along with dozens of professional Bates staff members, will greet and help new students move their gear into campus residences. (Fun fact: the move-in helpers will use 61 two-wheel dollies on Opening Day.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the helpers will be 60 members of the college\u2019s Residential Life student staff. These students live and work in first-year residences as Junior Advisors, Community Advisors, and Team Leaders during the year, mentoring and supporting new students and creating community within all Bates residences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Images
During last year’s Opening Day, these upper-class student Orientation helpers took a breather from moving gear into residences to bust some dance moves on Alumni Walk. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Residence Life student staff, other student leaders helping the newbies get settled and feeling connected from Day 1 include upperclass varsity athletes, who have already arrived to begin practices; student mentors to first-generation students with the college\u2019s Kessler Scholars program; community-engaged leaders with the Harward Center; and AESOP trip leaders preparing for three-day outings all over Lewiston and Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Bobcats and returning students will move into campus residences that date all the way back to the college\u2019s opening in 1855 (Parker Hall) as well as one residence, 96 Campus Avenue, that hasn\u2019t ever had a Bates head on a pillow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newest Bates residence, having been acquired several years ago, was just recently renovated by the college after previously serving as a convent for neighboring St. Mary\u2019s Hospital for more than four decades, among other uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Living Arrangements
<\/strong>These are the campus residences, and the number of first-year students in each, for the Class of 2028:<\/p>\n\n\n\n