On the Hilltop
Making Tracks: Students Walk for Charity For the 12th year, Saint Anselm students made a modern-day pilgrimage that provided benefits to charities in New Hampshire and Maine. Another benefit was the new or strengthened bonds that formed over the 130-mile journey from Lewiston, Maine, to the entrance arch on Saint Anselm Drive. The Road for Hope, sponsored by the Office of Campus Ministry, takes place before the start of classes each fall. The 44 walkers camped along the way, and enjoyed the hospitality of a few parents enroute. They also enjoyed the occasional swim and the annual pudding-eating contest and dance party. Fr. Anselm Smedile, O.S.B., assistant director of Campus Ministry, joined the walkers for a day, and Professor Michael Smith (sociology) was a roadside supporter. This year’s journey raised $27,000, benefiting nine charities.
Photos by Gil Talbot
College Welcomes New Anselmians The 543 members of the Class of 2014 reported for orientation Aug. 26, arriving from 22 states and three countries (Vietnam, Colombia and Canada). They include 106 Presidential Scholars. The average GPA for the class was 3.1, a figure unchanged since it rose to that level in 2003. At least nine percent of the new students are from underrepresented races and ethnicities. Dean of Admission Nancy Davis Griffin said the actual figure could be higher, as not every student provides such information. Out-of-state students make up 78 percent of the Class of 2014, with the majority of those coming from the neighboring state of Massachusetts. In tough economic times, students tend to remain closer to home, Griffin says, so it is not surprising that more freshmen than usual come from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. These are challenging times for colleges in New England, which is undergoing a demographic shift that has fewer students graduating from high school. Nonetheless, the Office of Admission exceeded its goal of enrolling 530 new students. 11