by Claudia Brunson
news editor
The start of every academic year brings new and excited freshmen to campuses all across the United States, and Millsaps College is no exception.
The class of 2019 has settled in and is quickly becoming a part of the Millsaps community. Millsaps has welcomed to its campus a total of 227 freshmen, the second largest class the school has seen in the past six years. An in-depth breakdown of the racial diversity of the class shows that four percent are Hispanic/Latino, 19 percent African- American, one percent Native American, four percent Asian, and the remaining 72 percent are of Caucasian descent.
The freshman Class has demonstrated high academic achievements with a cumulative grade point average of 3.6 and an average ACT score of 26. The freshman class hails from many different areas of the United States as well as other countries. The geographical makeup for the class of 2019 includes students from Mississippi and Louisiana all the way to California and New York, just to name a few. In terms of international students, freshmen from Spain, Switzerland, China and Thailand have all found a new home at the Millsaps campus.
Vice President for Enrollment and Communications Robert Alexander is understandably excited about this freshman class. Alexander thinks of the class as a whole as being curious and intellectual and believes they chose Millsaps because they are looking for a college where they can freely choose their own paths.
“I think the biggest legacy for this freshmen class is that they are the first to enter with the compass curriculum and experience the new ventures and connection courses in their first year,” Alexander said. “All of them will be taking our Human Heritage courses through their entire first year, and I think that will be a powerful experience to demonstrate right away the interdisciplinary nature of the Millsaps education.”
Freshman Ray Taylor is enjoying his experience here so far at Millsaps and really appreciates the high academic standards that the school imposes, and hopes to be able to be more social and become a mentor to other students upon graduation.
“Everybody is nice and everybody is cordial,” Taylor said. “I am just loving it so far.”
Likewise, freshman Claire Meyer says she has had a positive experience at Millsaps so far and enjoys her classes. Meyer appreciates the small community and feels that everyone on campus is really personable. Meyer hopes that her class can leave behind a great legacy at Millsaps and one that will never be forgotten.
“I feel like we [freshman class] are really spirited and enthusiastic,” Meyer said. “I hope that we go to become great doctors and lawyers and engineers and [other successful] things.”