Shimer College Welcomes New Students

Sunday, August 23rd marked the beginning of the Shimer experience for a new class of students. Through the course of the afternoon, young men and women moved into their residence hall rooms north of Shimer’s classrooms where they will spend the next year building an intellectual foundation rooted in one of the last true liberal arts curricula in the country. With the addition of 36 new students, the ranks of Shimer’s  student body now stands at 110 students (a figure which includes part-time and weekend students).

The incoming students hail from 16 different states, including a particularly large number from the West Coast. This increase is due in large part to Shimer's increased recruitment efforts in that area. An admission office staff member made a trip to the West Coast to attend college fairs and visit high schools. With the help of alumni the staff member was able to offer sample classes to prospective students and their parents. This provided a taste of what Shimer is like and allowed them to speak with alumni about their own Shimer experience.

It is of note that many members of the entering class are transfer students. In many cases, these students discovered that the other schools they attended did not have what they were looking for, schools where they could thrive and be challenged. Two of these transfer students took Shimer classes last year as students from Harold Washington College in downtown Chicago. Shimer also welcomed its first transfer students rom the Vandercook College of Music which also shares IIT’s campus. Upon taking Integrated Studies 2 as an elective with David Shiner last semester, the aspiring teacher found that the class and discussions were so inspiring he had to see what the rest of the core offered, and he still plays bass in many Vandercook ensembles. Yet, the entering class is more than just numbers. The incoming class brings to Shimer an array of interests and talents - several play instruments like the piano, banjo, and accordion; one is an accomplished actor; another an improv comedian; and still others play competitive sports like hockey or basketball.

The returning students joined the incoming class on campus before the start of classes on Thursday, August 27th. After a week of classes, students are starting to adjust and are getting to know each other, but the social connections (and even some of the intellectual connections) actually started before their arrival on campus. Thanks to social networking sites like Facebook, many of the students had "met" each other before arriving on campus, sharing their thoughts and fears or even discussing something they were reading over the summer. The adjustment has also been made easier by this year's orientation leader program. Orientation leaders are upper-class students who are "go to people" for a specific group of incoming students to help in their adjustment. As we begin the year, the first days seem to have proven to be as much about opening doors to new ways of thinking and new experience as it did to new rooms.