Alison Giggleman Jonah Ginocchetti Delia Gîrba Evelyn Glenn Austin Glover David Gomez Natalie Gomez Rachel Gomez Michael Goodloe Gabriel Gosch Evelyn Graham David Granberg The 2023-24 freshman class was estimated to be over 1,000 students in fall 2023. This class size was one of the biggest since before the COVID-19 pandemic. With roughly 870 freshmen straight from high school and 150 transfers, the Harding campus was eager to welcome them to their new home in Searcy. There were a lot of factors that contributed to the increase and class numbers. Vice President of Enrollment Services Steve Lake was hired in 2020 and worked to change the way recruiting and admissions were approached. However, a lot of the swaying of class sizes was out of their control. “Classes are smaller coming out of high school, we are living in a society that doesn’t embrace faith like it once did ... and less people going to college,” Lake said. “So with all those forces, we are really kinda defying the odds.” The new freshman class had over 100 more students than the 2022-23 freshman class. The increased number of students meant one change on campus — larger classes. Associate professor of New Testament Jason Darden, taught strictly freshmen in his five years at Harding and had to rethink his teaching with the new numbers. Darden jumped from his highest class number of 60 in 2022-23 to his largest class having 125 students. Because of this, the class dynamic was a bit different from years past. Darden loved forming mentorship relationships with his students, but the large class sizes proved that to be difficult. His typical structure of class introductions could not happen anymore, but what he found was that students were then making more of an effort to create those relationships with him and their own peers. “That’s the sad part about having this big of a class, but what I am finding is the students that I know I will form a relationship with are the ones that hang out after class,” Darden said. The large class size not only made it difficult to create relationships in the classroom but also outside. Freshman Easton Steed explained how different college was from high school and how creating relationships was something he had to do himself. Steed mentioned how the events Harding hosted for his class were something future students should take advantage of. “It’s definitely good to go to the events they [Harding] holds for freshmen and transfer students,” Steed said. “Going to Sonic, and just going around you halfway in your dorm - like knocking on doors.” Building relationships was something that this freshman class was not afraid of. Darden expressed that this group of students was extremely talkative and animated in and out of the classroom. “They have a lot of energy,” Darden said. “They are very talkative, they don’t seem shy like last year’s group of freshmen. They are eager to learn and they are just excited.” The large freshman class was a change to Harding’s campus, but their excitement proved to represent them well as students. Harding was happy to welcome all 1,000 of them home to Searcy for the next chapter of their journey. As the freshman class navigated through their first year of college, they became a part of Harding’s rich history as the new centennial of Harding University began. FRESH NUMBERS The freshman class enrollment hit a record high in the 2023-24 school year Written by Addie Echols 197 Freshman
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==