Wittenberg Welcomes More Than 600 New Students

The new students will take part in a series of sessions designed to acclimate them to the college environment in general and to the Wittenberg campus and Springfield community in particular. The students will meet faculty advisors, schedule classes, learn study skills, take placement tests for math and language and get to know their new classmates.

On Friday, Aug. 21, new students will spend an entire afternoon becoming familiar with Springfield. Transportation will be provided for students to go bowling, rollerblading, canoeing, rock climbing, hiking, swimming, shopping and even miniature golfing.

The new class, which includes six National Merit Scholars, the most ever at Wittenberg, also has a heavy local flavor.

According to Ken Benne, dean of admission, applications from the six area counties have gone up almost 50 percent since 1996 and enrollment increased by about 30 percent, in part because of a scholarship initiated two years ago specfically geared to benefit students from Clark, Champaign, Montgomery, Greene, Madison and Miami counties.

Over that two-year span, Wittenberg's enrollment has seen an increase of approximately 13 percent from the area, or roughly 169 students.