Wittenberg rolled out the welcome mat for one of the most impressive first-year classes in school history, Aug. 17.

In an era of intense competition among institutions of higher education, Wittenberg stood out in the crowd in 2006. The class of 2010 number 643, including 25 high school valedictorians and an impressive 113 students who posted a 4.0 grade point average during their academic careers.More than 100 Wittenberg faculty and staff members, including President Mark Erickson and nearly 100 orientation assistants, were on hand to greet the students and their parents upon their arrival.

It is the latest personal touch applied by Wittenberg's administration and one that played a significant role in securing a class that exceeded goals by almost every conceivable measure."Our entire campus became fully engaged in the recruitment process this year," said Brad Pochard '01, Wittenberg director of admission, "and we couldn't be happier with the results."Students who had been admitted to the university and were still considering both Wittenberg and other schools were contacted by faculty members, alumni and students.

It was a project, spearheaded by the admission office, that displayed qualities that make the university special - a close-knit community of dedicated professionals who constantly find innovative ways to get the most out of their students.The results were tremendous. More than 58 percent of the 113 students contacted by faculty members eventually decided that Wittenberg was the right place for them.

Similarly, 30 percent of the 780 prospectives contacted by a current student and an amazing 51 of the 53 prospectives contacted by an alumna or alumnus of the university made the same decision.Overall, the class boasts an average high school grade point average of 3.44 with outstanding standardized test scores. A total of 30 states and another 14 countries, spanning from Asia to Africa to Europe, are represented, with more than 28 percent of the incoming class hailing from outside Ohio.

The class of 2010 also offers great diversity, including 33 international students, 39 non-African American minorities and 28 African-American students. In each case, that figure is at least twice that of a year ago.

"Few people outside the Wittenberg community will ever know the heart and effort that went into bringing in this class," Erickson said. "I am enormously proud of our faculty and staff's commitment to our students, and we look forward to learning and growing with the great class of 2010."