Freshman have moved in and Customs Week is underway. It’s our distinct pleasure to introduce you to the newest Fords!
First, some numbers:
- 99% of you were in the top 20% of your class
- 94% of you were in the top 10%
- 18 were the Valedictorian of their class, and another 13 the salutatorian
- 2 were homeschooled
- 7 were originally admitted to the Class of 2013, and chose to defer your enrollment to this year
- For 22%, one or both parents did not attend college, and 12% are the first in their family to go to college
- 14% speak a language other than English at home
- 5% are Quaker
- 32% identified yourselves as a student of color
- 7% came to Haverford from outside the United States
- 20 of you who served as the Head or Vice President of Student Government
- 92 of you were a captain of a sport – many of you for multiple sports; remarkably, this is the exact same number as last year
- 35 of you were the captain of an academic team
- 25 of you were the Editor-in-Chief of your school’s newspaper
- And around 25% of you were the President or Head of some other club or organization in your school
- Around 20% of you founded your own club or organization somewhere along the way
- More than half of you were involved in the arts in some capacity during high school, with a full 1/3 of you involved in music
- And it would have been impossible to count the hours dedicated to service of all sorts
Now…the skinny on the Class as a group of individuals. A member of the Class of 2014…
- Was team manager for the Middle East winner of the Formula One Car Design contest
- Conducted an independent project on the genealogical history of Frederick Douglass
- Was an All-State Tenor AND the goalie on the 2009 NY State Lacrosse Championship team
- Pushed for your school to create an exchange program in South Africa. While on this trip, you met Bishop Tutu and also made an unauthorized trip to a township, staying there overnight by yourself
- Writes computer programs for the Low Cost Laptop program, which sends laptops to kids in developing nations
- Was the 2009-10 New Jersey Dairy Princess
- Was National High School co-leader of Friends General Conference, a major Quaker organization
- Created the “Kilowatt Kickoff” at your high school, reducing energy consumption by 20% and saving your school $12,000/yr
- Left home at age 13 to attend a dance academy. Among many achievements in dance, danced with the Pussycat Dolls
- As a Kindergartener was ranked 5th in the nation for your grade level in chess
- Is a serious roller coaster enthusiast, aspiring to design your own roller coasters and amusement parks, and creator of a roller coaster website that is extremely popular among other enthusiasts
- Was the President and Founding member of Junior Bassmasters
- Participated in the European Youth Parliament
- Was the 2009 NJ State Champion Fencer in Epee, and a Junior Olympic Fencer
- Does Chinese Papercut Art
- Did research on Renaissance Venice during your college tour – visiting each college’s library to find sources not available at your high school library
- Grew up without electricity or running water until 3rd grade
- Collects Roman coins
- Did an internship at the National Organization for Women
- Was the 2010 Delaware State Diving Champion
- Raised $20K as President of the Action 4 Africa organization
- Plays ukulele in a band called Toolbox
- Published a paper on Studs Terkel and presented your work at the Oral History Association National Symposium
- Was part of the US Soccer Development Academy
- Established the annual “Give the Principal a High Five” day
- Was top 10 in the US on the National French Exam
- Plays Competitive Online Scrabble
- Invents languages and alphabets
- Established the “Living Free for Research” foundation, which has raised over $100K for stem cell research
- Cohosted a popular biweekly Twilight Podcast, and was even flown out to a Twilight convention in Washington
- Placed 8th at the Nike US Nationals for Indoor Track
- Took time off after graduating to live in Japan. And while there, took a Tea Ceremony course and performed at Japan’s largest annual tea ceremony
- Was the senior intern of the Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History
- Intern for the NC State-Wide Gay Rights organization
- Is the 2010 Nat’l Catholic Forensic League National Champion in Policy Debate
- Is a Nationally ranked competitive rock climber, going to the US Sport Climbing Series National Championship and the American Bouldering Series National Championship
- Has studied ancient Greek since age 4
- Won “Audience Favorite” and a $1,000 prize at the Chicago Union League Jazz Improvisation Competition
- Is the Founder and Director of “Project Snuggly Heads”, making hats for cancer patients
- Took the past year away from school to curate an exhibition in London on Street Art and produce an accompanying coffee table book. The exhibition was a huge success, and the book is amazing – we have a copy in admission if you want to check it out
See you ’round campus!