Class of 2020 arrives on campus

Parents and families have said their goodbyes, lifelong friendships have just begun and mini fridges now hum all across the Connecticut College campus—the Class of 2020 has arrived. 

Over two arrival days this week, the College welcomed 494 new students, including transfer students. (See slideshow below.) The newest Camels were selected from the College’s largest ever applicant pool, and they make up one of the most diverse classes in the College’s history. They hail from 34 U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia, and 24 countries, including China, Pakistan, Belarus, Côte d'Ivoire, Iraq, Germany, Jamaica, Lithuania, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

The incoming students will play a unique role in the College’s history, shifting the shape of the academic landscape as the first students to participate fully in the new innovative general education program, Connections. Ratified by the faculty in 2015, Connections provides a path through the curriculum that allows students to ask personally meaningful questions and to explore answers to these questions by integrating courses from multiple disciplines, engaging in off-campus learning, and culminating with an opportunity to share what they have learned with their peers and the larger campus community.

Today begins a five-day Orientation, during which the new students will meet with student and faculty advisers, attend workshops and take part in programs and activities designed to help them get to know each other, the College and the local community before the start of classes on Tuesday, Aug. 30. Orientation will culminate with Convocation, a celebration of the opening of the academic year, on Monday, Aug. 29, at 4:30 p.m. on Tempel Green. John McKnight, dean of institutional equity and inclusion, will deliver the keynote address, "Sky and Sea."

Check out scenes from Arrival Day below. To see more photos, visit Connecticut College on Facebook.