SU Class of 2026 moves in as most diverse group of first-year students since 1925
SALISBURY, Md.-Packed cars and new faces, that’s some of what you’d see if you stepped onto Salisbury University’s campus early Thursday morning.
“I’m most excited about meeting new people, settling in to a new place for me that I can really like comfortable and happy at,” Ethan Miller, SU incoming freshman, said.
“I think it’s a great time to be here, I’m looking forward to meeting everybody,” Aidan Camper, SU incoming freshman on the basketball team, said.
Around 1,000 incoming freshman spread their wings and flocked to campus to settle into their new homes. They had the support of students and university staff welcoming them.
“I’m just excited now to get to know the students, hear about what their hopes and dreams are and to do anything that I can as the president to move the institution forward so that they can be successful,” SU President Dr.Lyn Lepre said.
We’re told this year students are returning in a big way with the Class of 2026 representing one of the largest in campus history, while also being the most diverse group of first-year students since SU opened in 1925.
“31% of our incoming freshman class are from multicultural diverse backgrounds,” Dr. Lepre said. “We need this generation of students to solve some of the worlds biggest problems, and the only way they are going to do it is by developing a sense of understanding about someone different from them.”
Dr. Lepre said she’s pleased to see this accomplishment.
“It took a lot of work from a lot of people to make sure we had those support services in place,” Dr. Lepre said. “We take very good care of our students and I hope that that reputation is getting out there, that if you come to Salisbury that you belong here.”
When speaking with a couple of students, they told us they’re proud to be a part of group that can make difference here on campus.
“It will create a lot more social abilities, it will create a lot more social experience for the real world, it will also help people get to know each other from different, environments, different cultures; so I’m really excited for that,” Miller said.
“I think just embracing who the student is and just like take anybody from anywhere, I think that’s just the most important thing to get to know everybody as a whole and just to build a really diverse big student body,” Camper said.
Dr. Lepre said while all of this is something to celebrate, it’s also an opportunity to look into the future.
“I think we are going to see new academic programs, I think we are going to see increased support services for our students, and I think from perspective we are going to do a lot of listening,” Dr. Lepre said. “We are going to do a lot of listening to our incoming students to make sure that we understand what they need and what they want from us.”
