Fall Semester Opens Aug. 28 at University of Richmond With Strong First-Year Class and Expanded and Renovated Dining Hall
August 21, 2006
A $9.9 million expansion and renovation of Heilman Dining Center, anticipated January opening of the $13.5 million Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness and 767 outstanding first-year students highlight the new academic year at University of Richmond.
Classes begin Aug. 28, with new students moving in Aug. 23 for orientation. A total of 4,268 students is expected, including 3,460 undergraduates, 755 master’s and professional, and 53 unclassified.
The dining center includes many new cook-to-order areas, including a brick oven pizza station, Mongolian grill, wok and pasta station.
Other construction projects begun or completed over the summer include air conditioning of Dennis Hall, making all campus residence halls air conditioned; $3 million in improvements to Boatwright Memorial Library to be completed in September; and beginning of construction on an $11 million residence hall on the Richmond College side of Westhampton Lake, with planned occupancy scheduled for January 2008.
Program highlights in the coming year include the April 11–14, 2007 Rule of Law conference hosted by the School of Law as part of the national commemoration of the first permanent English settlement in Jamestown, Va., 400 years ago. Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, honorary chair of the 400th anniversary celebration, will be the keynote speaker at conference events. The conference will bring together prominent British and American jurists and legal scholars to address religious freedom, free speech, international dispute resolution and cultural differences. Panelists and speakers will include Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers (Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales), Kenneth Starr, dean of Pepperdine University School of Law, and others.
The Robins School of Business is co-sponsoring with the university’s Center for Civic Engagement a student development week for Richmond City Schools. One thousand ninth graders will visit the campus in March for college preparation and interviewing and interpersonal skills building.
The School of Continuing Studies will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Office of Community and Professional Education, which offers the community a broad range of courses for personal enrichment and professional development.
Among the first-year students are two Bausch and Lomb Science Award winners, nine Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Award winners and 10 Kodak Young Leader award recipients. More than half of freshmen who reported high school class rank were in the top 10 percent.
They excelled as student government and class presidents, editors of school publications, model United Nations participants, artists, athletes and musicians.
The freshman class includes seven published poets, three master divers, two certified pilots and one member of an AAU basketball national championship team. Four students served as U.S. Senate interns, one was a Congressional page, one was a state legislative page and one was a Boys State governor.
Others were Eagle Scouts, Girl Scout Gold Award winners and officers of statewide organizations. More than 500 students earned varsity letters, and 547 noted their commitment to community service.
“We are happy to report that the quality of the class is outstanding,” said Sabena Moretz, associate director of admission. The middle 50 percent of SAT I scores for the class is 1850–2030.
Students in the class of 2010 hail from 38 states, the District of Columbia and 32 countries. Forty-four percent live in the Mid-Atlantic, with 17 percent from Virginia. Six percent are international students, from such countries as Afghanistan, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Japan, Kenya, Portugal, South Korea, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe.
Fourteen percent of freshmen are domestic students of color, and 11 percent are first-generation college students.
The university received 5,408 applications and accepted 2,363 students (44 percent). Of those admitted, 767 enrolled (33 percent yield).