Published: August 16, 2008 09:29 pm            

Students arrive: ISU expecting booming freshman class

TERRE HAUTE — The breeze through Terre Haute was still warm as nearly 2,000 high school graduates stepped onto ISU’s campus grass as incoming freshmen Saturday.

“I am very excited,” incoming freshman Jordan Black said while waiting in Tirey Hall for part of his orientation.

Black, a trumpet-playing Freelandville native, said he plans to major in music education and will live in Burford Hall this semester.

And according to Indiana State University Admissions Director Richard Toomey, Black is just one of a booming new class of freshmen.

“We’re looking at a higher number than last year,” Toomey said of enrollment numbers, noting that 2007’s freshmen class numbered about 1,852, and this year’s is “up considerably,” although official numbers are not tabulated yet.

Saturday afternoon Tirey Hall was full of parents and students coming to claim one of 800 laptop computers given away as scholarships to incoming class members.

“All of these students are our best and brightest,” Toomey said, explaining that to qualify for the free laptop computer one had to apply by March, have a Core 40 diploma and a minimum high school grade point average of 3.0.

ISU, he said, is one of many “laptop required” schools in Indiana, and those freshmen winning one of the Lenovo Think Pads were given a short tutorial on them before taking them back to their living units.

The computers possess 80 gigabyte hard drives and both wireless and wired Internet networking capacity.

“Each year we’re giving away more and more of them,” he said, adding that this year’s incoming freshmen have a higher average high school grade point average than years past, more than 3.0. “It’s a good incoming cohort,” he said.

Registration and student processing will be under way this weekend and into the beginning of next week, with social events and convocations.

This afternoon, the freshman class will be photographed from the sky while standing on Marks Field in an “ISU” pattern.

“There’s going to be a lot of activity on campus,” Toomey said.

And that sounded good to many Saturday afternoon.

Shawn Swinford, a 2008 graduate of Peru High School, was in Tirey Hall with his brother, Steven, an ISU sophomore, getting ready to receive his own new laptop computer.

“Right now I’m open to majors,” he said, noting he’ll make a decision down the road.

His older brother said that he is an exercise science major.

Toomey said the Swinfords and others represent a good mix of Hoosier students.

“We’ve pulled from a wide array of students from high schools all around the state, out-of-state and international,” he said.

Brian Boyce can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.

        

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