King’s Welcomes New Students to Campus

NEW YORK CITY – August 27, 2015 – On August 22-25, faculty, staff, and student leaders welcomed the newest members of the King’s community to the College.

Two hundred new students join the College, an increase of 24% over the 2014-15 school year. Of these, more than 180 are new on-campus full-time freshmen and transfers. Additional students join the community from other colleges and universities as part of the NYC Semester program.

Incoming students hail from 39 states and 3 countries, with the strongest concentration of students coming from Texas, California, and Florida. The class includes two National Merit Finalists and boasts an average ACT score of 26 and SAT score of 1730. The class includes students who have won prizes in oration, debate, gymnastics, and the culinary arts; earned a real estate license before finishing high school; and performed on The View. The class also includes the grandson of Friedhelm Radandt, the third president of The King’s College.

“In admissions, we are privileged to see students arrive at the beginning of this journey to graduation,” said Luke Smith, Director of Admissions. “Each year the incoming class brings new personality and talents to the community, but there’s something special about this group. I’ve been stunned by the array of exceptional gifts, academic potential and quality of character that these young adults have already demonstrated.”

“The fall of 2015 brings us the combination of the largest, most capable, and academically prepared group of new students to date,” said Dr. Gregory Alan Thornbury, President of The King’s College. “They join the company of our remarkable faculty, current students, and alumni who are proof positive on the distinctive witness, mission, and opportunity it is to be a part of The King’s College in New York City.”

Incoming students spent their first few days on campus participating in New Student Orientation activities, including panels, activities with their House, the annual Great Race, and the first annual Job Fair, which featured employers from businesses near campus. Each student received a King’s-specific Faithbox, designed around the King’s Liturgy.

On the evening of Tuesday, August 25, after the close of the first day of classes, students attended the annual Convocation Exercises, held at Trinity Wall Street. New students joined the King’s community as they signed the Honor Code at the ceremony. During his address to the incoming class, Thornbury spoke about Dr. David Livingstone, the nineteenth-century missionary and explorer who explored Africa well into his old age. Thornbury spoke of the three ideas that Livingstone championed during his lifetime—Christianity, commerce, and civilization—and compared the internal rhythms of communal life necessary to such an endeavor to those modeled in T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets.