As students and professors settle in to new classes and the habits of a new year, 515 new students are experiencing The College of Wooster for the first time – the members of the class of 2012.

Most of the first-years arrived on campus Wednesday, Aug. 21 for First-Year Orientation. The theme this year was “Fill in Your Future” and was Mad-Lib-based. Orientation events were much the same as they’ve been in the past, but some new events have been instated, such as an orientation swing dance. In addition, the vast majority of the class signed the Wooster Ethic in a ceremony that has only recently become part of the orientation agenda.

“More than 500 first years participated in the Wooster Ethic declaration ceremony at orientation,” said Dean of Students Kurt Holmes. “Each and every student at the program came up, signed the ledger and received the pen as a keepsake. In fact, across the board attendance at Orientation was up this year, which is a great sign for the engagement of this class.”

The individual members of the Class of 2012 come from a wide range of backgrounds, from very close to home to thousands of miles away. According to Vice President for Enrollment Mary Karen Vellines, 35 percent of the class hails from Ohio and 15 percent has a family connection to the College. At the same time, students come from 40 states and 14 countries, and five percent of the class is international. In addition, 15 percent of the class is multi-ethnic and 10 percent is of African-American descent.

President Grant Cornwell, who made increasing diversity a vocal priority during the presidential search process two years ago, described the incoming class as “one of the most diverse entering classes in Wooster’s recent history” in an e-mail to the Wooster community in June.

Cornwell also mentioned in the e-mail that a record number of nearly 4,500 students applied to be part of the class of 2012, about 61 percent of whom were selected.

The overwhelming first impression of the first-year class seems to be one of involvement.

“I can tell you that my experience with members of the class has been very positive,” said Associate Dean of the Class of 2012 and Professor of Commun-ications Denise Bost-dorff. “As a group, the Class of 2012 is smart, diverse and enthusiastic. I’ve found the first-year students not only are interesting people to talk to, but also they are interested in learning and in the world around them – exactly the kind of people that Wooster loves to have on its campus.”

As an example of the involvement of the first-years, Vellines shared a sample of first-year accomplishments with the Voice.

“Members of this class have built habitat houses, survived Hurricane Katrina, founded their own organizations to combat diseases, participated in national juggling contest, danced in the Irish dancing world championships, [and has] written and produced her own play,” said Vellines. “This class has embraced the world and from all reports embraced Wooster in their first few weeks here.”

“They have shown a wonderful positive energy,” said Holmes, “so much that ‘old people’ will have to run to keep up.”