This past September, 497 first-year students moved into the Washington and Lee University dorms on Washington St. The 259 men and 238 women that came from 43 states and 14 countries make up the largest class ever welcomed at the Lexington, VA liberal arts college. This 497 person class is a 9% increase from the 452 students in the current sophomore class. William Hartog, dean of admissions and financial aid, says that this increase was caused by the high percentage of admitted students accepted their offers for admission: “the quality of these students is extraordinary.” It may not seem like this increase in class size has an effect on the W&L campus, but adjustments have been made to accommodate each and every one of these students.
Dining Services
Head of Dining Services Dennis Fowler says he loves the bigger class. “I didn’t think it would make that much of a difference, but it definitely has,” he explains. Though Fowler didn’t have exact statistics to prove how many first-years come through The Marketplace or Café ‘77, he’s sure even those few extra people made a difference: “With more freshmen, come more RA’s. With more RA’s, come more upperclassmen friends to come eat. It’s a cycle.”
Student Housing
Housing has recently been tightened at W&L due to the construction on the campus’ colonnade has forced some professors to move their offices to John W. Davis Hall, a building usually used to house first-year students.
Some of the rooms in dorms (Francis P. Gaines Hall, Graham-Lees Hall, Frank J. Gilliam Hall) that have been inhabited by individual students are now being used by two students. Sam Campbell and Andrew Crum, roommates in Graham-Lees live in the smallest room in the dorm. “I mean it’s not that bad since we’re guys, but all the girls and their stuff would never fit in this room,” Crum laughs.
Dean Dave Leonard admits that placing the first-years into housing was probably the biggest challenge: “It’s something we had to overcome, but we had to do it. We adjusted and everyone seems to pretty happy.”
Sorority Recruitment
This year, almost 93% of first-year women have registered for sorority recruitment. The formal recruitment process, which will take place the first week of Winter Term (Jan. 9-12), will probably the campus activity or event that is most effected by the larger size of the recent class. Elizabeth Bean, a recruitment chair for one of the campus sororities, is slightly nervous: “I mean I love the idea of having bigger chapters, but rush week could be stressful.
Teri Cugliari, Associate Director of Student Activities and Greek Life, says that formal recruitment week should run swimmingly.
Class Size and Registration
Classes are slightly fuller. Scott Dittman of the University Registrar explains that his team has been working to “tweak” the registration process. “We want to make it easy on everyone, especially the professors,” he says, “It’s not necessarily a big increase, so it doesn’t change much. The faculty is good about letting in an extra student here and there.”
Student Opinion
W&L students of all ages certainly feel the small effects that the larger first-year class size has had on the university’s campus. Students say that the slightly larger class is evident in larger classes, crowded public areas and a younger contingency on athletic teams.
First-Year Student Demographics
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