Despite the rain, excitement ran high on Thurs., Aug. 19 as Saint Anselm College’s newest students moved onto campus and began orientation. Members of the class of 2025 and transfer students were warmly welcomed with cheers and smiles by student-athletes, resident assistants, orientation leaders, transition program mentors, faculty, staff, and monks who helped move the students into their residence halls.
Throughout the morning and mid-day hours, students settled into their new rooms, buying books, picking up mailbox keys, grabbing lunch at Davison, and finalizing any last-minute paperwork.
Following 2 p.m. Mass in the Abbey Church, students and their families headed to Sullivan Arena for the president’s welcome. With the class of 2025 pennant hanging behind him, College President Joseph A. Favazza, Ph.D., officially welcomed families and new students to campus.
“As we stand at the threshold of a new academic year, you stand at the threshold of a new experience,” said Dr. Favazza.
“Today you leave one community, your family, whose love and sacrifice have brought you this far, and you join other communities: the Benedictines whose spirit infuses all that we do in this place, faculty and staff who will be your fiercest challengers and champions, and your fellow students, some of whom will become like siblings to you. Trust me and all of the over 20,000 Anselmian alums when I say: you will be transformed.”
The 504 new Anselmians will spend the weekend getting to know each other and campus better through the college’s three-day long orientation which began Thursday afternoon and ends on Saturday. On Sunday, upperclassmen return in time for the start of the 2021-2022 academic year which begins on Mon., Aug. 23.
Class of 2025
The class of 2025 includes 489 first-year and 15 transfer students. It is the strongest incoming class at Saint Anselm College, with an average high school GPA of 3.38. The most popular majors are nursing, business, biology, criminal justice, politics, and undeclared. These students will be joining the Saint Anselm community from 20 states including Arizona, California, and Texas, and two countries.
The Anselmian legacy lives on as 49 of the incoming students have had at least one family member attend the college. Even more impressive is that 98 students are first-generation college students. Looking at the incoming student roster, there are two names which appear the most: for females, Abigail and for males, Joseph.
Saint Anselm College’s transfer students arrive from six states as far away as Missouri and Alabama. Four transfer students are playing varsity sports and majors include fine arts, criminal justice, biology, international business, politics, elementary education, communication, natural sciences, and undeclared. Fourteen of the students are transferring from other four-year colleges.
Incoming students chose Saint Anselm College for many different reasons. Allyson McMahon ’25 said, “I chose Saint Anselm College to be my home for the next four years because of the welcoming community as well as the abundance of opportunities given to all students.”
“We’re so excited to welcome the class of 2025 to the Hilltop,” said Steve Goetsch, vice president of enrollment. “They arrive with the highest GPA of any incoming first-year class, which is a remarkable accomplishment considering the challenges they faced with the pandemic. We’re thrilled to have them join our Saint Anselm community.”
Included in this year’s class are an accomplished ballet dancer and a junior Olympic gold medalist. One incoming student runs his own business custom painting Nike sneakers, another builds and modifies guitars, while a third trains new chefs at a high-end restaurant.