The Class of 2015 joined with parents, friends, faculty and staff in the Kuch Center gymnasium on Friday, Aug. 26, for the traditional new student welcoming ceremony. The entering first-year class has 517 first-year students, along with a robust 140 transfer students.

Before the ceremony even began, the crowd erupted into a fury as Arcadia’s President Carl (Tobey) Oxholm III entered the room. He was greeted with applause, which dissolved into a booming chant of “Tobey, Tobey,” just minutes before he addressed the Class of 2015.

“I’ve been here three weeks, four days and nine hours, but I claim you new students as mine,” said President Oxholm. “We’re going through this together. Your parents are bringing you here to have a good time—you’ll have it. That’s a given. They are bringing you here to stretch you, to work you, to make you into what you can become. I transferred here from a different school because we have a faculty and a staff who will do everything they can, every single day to make you into who you can be. That, I say, is the Arcadia Promise, and I’m glad to be President of a place that delivers on its promises. Rock on, Arcadia! Let the games begin!”

Also in attendance were: Mark Lapreziosa, Acting Vice President of Enrollment Management; Dr. Steve O. Michael, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Jeffery Shultz, Professor of Education Assistant Provost for Special Projects; Dr. Erik Nelson, Dean of the School of Continuing Studies; Dr. Archie Vomachka, Dean of the College of Health Sciences; Janice Finn, Associate Dean for International Affairs; Bruce Keller, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies; and Judith Dalton, Assistant Dean for Multicultural Affairs.

Later that evening, the new students gathered in Kuch Alumni Gymnasium to have their class photo taken with their brick, which will adorn their place on the Alumni Fund Walk of Pride.