New Blood: The Class of '71

Leading the influx of students into Hanover last month was possibly the second largest freshman class in the College's history. The pre-registration figure for the Class of 1971 (that is, all who indicated they were coming) was 827 men, an even dozen more than the Admission Office's target of 815. If this figure holds up, the entering class will be slightly larger than the 824 men of the Class of 1967, which until now has been second only to the Class of 1963 with its 842 matriculants.

Total enrollment in the undergraduate and graduate programs this year is certain to be high, maybe an all-time high, and residence space is tight. Fortunately, with some forty or fifty undergraduates in absentia for the fall term, because of overseas language study and other offcampus programs, the College will be able to house everyone. By the time the fall-term absentees return in January, the new Tuck School dormitory, housing 78 men, is expected to be ready and the space occupied by graduate students in the undergraduate dorms can be freed. By another stroke of luck, the Tuck dorm is well ahead of schedule.

Freshman Week this fall was returned to its original length of one week. The stretch-out to ten days last year, in an effort to accommodate fraternity rushing, was too long and produced freshman boredom at an important, get-acquainted time. But 420 freshmen this year elected a longer pre-matriculation period by signing up for the Outing Club's famed Freshman Trip. Although this was a record number, the DOC accepted all who applied, split them into two groups for four-days, trips each, and brought the whole thing off in its usual competent style.