Two Colorful Ceremonies kick of St. Scholastica Centennial Academic Year

DULUTH, MN - Convocation will ceremonially welcome the new freshmen class at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, in Mitchell Auditorium. Current students, faculty and staff will gather with members of the Saints Heritage Club, which honors alumni from 50 or more years ago. The ceremony features faculty in caps and gowns, bagpipers in traditional costume and a processional "chain of welcome." 

St. Scholastica also will celebrate its Centennial with a 100^th birthday party and ribbon cutting for a new $16 million addition to its Science Center, at 4:45 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10. The event will be between Somers Hall and the Science Center. The public is welcome and there's no charge. The program will feature an academic procession in full regalia behind drummers, a trumpet fanfare, a ribbon cutting, tours of the new facility and refreshments including birthday cake and "Tower Hall cookies."

It was on Sept. 10, 1912, that the St. Scholastica's first classes were held for a student body of six women. This year St. Scholastica expects to enroll slightly more than 4,000 students. That figure includes an estimated 485 traditional first-year students and an overall traditional undergraduate enrollment of about 2,000. Classes began Tuesday, Sept. 4.

The other 2,000 to 2,100 students will be in St. Scholastica's graduate, extended and online programs for non-traditional students.
 
Final enrollment numbers will be determined 10 days after classes begin.

"We see stability in our freshman class and solid growth in our programs for non-traditional students - graduate, extended and online programs," said Eric Berg, St. Scholastica's vice president for enrollment management. "We're very happy with how this class has come together."

The incoming freshman class is the fifth largest in the College's history, he noted, and its members are "strong in ACT, GPA and class rank, so it's a good class academically."
 
The College of St. Scholastica is regularly recognized as one of the finest colleges in the Midwest.  The 2012 "America's Best Colleges" survey by U.S. News & World Report magazine ranks St. Scholastica in the top tier of Midwestern universities. The Washington Post has rated it one of the nation's 100 "hidden gems" among American colleges and universities.