Pictured above, rooks and new civilian students participate in an orientation event on Tuesday, August 20. Photo credit: Mark Collier/Norwich University.
Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University begins the 2019-2020 academic year on Monday, August 26, with approximately 764 new students. First year students in the Corps of Cadets arrived on Sunday, August 18, and new civilian students arrived at the Northfield campus on Tuesday, August 20, for orientation.
The Class of 2023 is comprised of approximately 465 rooks (first year students in the Corps of Cadets) and 299 civilian students (both residential and commuter) coming from 38 states, two territories (Puerto Rico and DC) and 23 different countries.
The Class of 2023 begins its Norwich career as the university celebrates 200 years since its founding in 1819. Norwich University will mark it bicentennial year with celebrations on campus, in Northfield, in the region and across the country. Officials announced in January 2019 that the $100 million goal of the university’s five-year bicentennial campaign “Forging the Future” had been reached in advance of the December 2019 end date, and subsequently increased the campaign goal to $110 million. Students will arrive to a campus that has been undergoing major construction since the beginning of the campaign. The campaign funded a new, four-story academic building on campus called Mack Hall; significantly renovated Dewey, Webb and Ainsworth Halls; increased scholarship endowments, and modernized the campus library to an epicenter of experiential learning.
“At Norwich, we continue our 200-year old tradition of evolving and investing in high quality and relevant academic programs. These programs, rooted in values and experiential learning, continue to attract high-performing and motivated students to Vermont,” President Richard W. Schneider said. With the arrival of the Class of 2023, Schneider begins his 28th year as Norwich’s president, one of the longest-serving presidents in the United States.
Class of 2023 by the numbers:
- Top five most popular majors: Criminal Justice, Undeclared, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Security, Nursing
- Top 10 sending states: Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Florida, California, Texas and Pennsylvania and Virginia are tied
- 74 ROTC scholarships
- 15 Civic Scholars
- 24 Honors Program
- 41 international students from 23 countries
On Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019, all new students will participate in the New Student Oath Ceremony held on Sabine Field to pledge to uphold the principles of Norwich University. As part of the Oath, rooks and incoming civilians alike promise to accept and apply the principles of the Norwich honor code and guiding values. Their recitations conclude with: “In all my endeavors from this day forth I will reflect in the spirit of the Norwich motto: ‘I Will Try.’”
The Oath Ceremony is a long-standing Norwich tradition. Corps and civilians participate jointly, a “beginning” that cultivates unity across the student body.
Parents and family members are invited to attend the ceremony, or view it via live streaming at www.nsnsports.net/colleges/norwich.
Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in Baccalaureate and Graduate Degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army and is the oldest private military college in the United States of America. Norwich is one of our nation's six senior military colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). www.norwich.edu
Norwich University celebrates its bicentennial throughout 2019, culminating with major events at Homecoming in September. In fulfillment of Norwich’s mission to train and educate today’s students to be tomorrow’s global leaders, Norwich launched the Forging the Future campaign in 2014. The five-year campaign, which is timed to culminate in 2019, is committed to creating the best possible learning environment through state-of-the-art academics and world-class facilities and is designed to enhance the university’s strong position as it steps into its third century of service to the nation. For information please go to: bicentennial.norwich.edu/