The class of 2008 is entering the Macalester community with a record number of domestic students of color. According to Director of Admissions Steve Collee, the class boasts 94 domestic students of color, making it the most ethnically diverse class in 34 years.

“We are always aspiring for diversity,” Collee said. “This is not the result of a shift in admissions policy, we’ve just been more successful this year…We’d [still] like to expand our outreach.”

Collee said that there are 31 African-American first-years, the largest group in 21 years, and 47 Asian first-years, the largest group in the college’s history,

“Diversity is one of our top commitments,” Dean of Students Laurie Hamre said. “We keep striving, watching the trend [of enrolled students of color] going upwards.”

Flannery Clark ’05, student director of tours in the admissions office, agreed that the increased diversity is a product not of an altered admissions strategy, but of Macalester’s consistent emphasis on multiculturalism. “[Increased diversity] is fabulous, and an asset for Macalester,” she said. “But for tour guides, it’s just a change in statistics. Macalester is pretty set on its pillars”

“It’s a long path, and this is just one step [to increased diversity],” Amet Tsikata ’05, a Lealtad-Suzuki Center employee, said. “[Right now,] people are looking at diversity on a very superficial level, but everything has to start somewhere. Much more could be done at Macalester.”

According to Collee, the most recent admissions cycle, which was the most selective in Macalester’s history, produced 486 first-year students from a pool of 4,405 applicants.

Three hundred sixty-five different high schools in 43 states and 27 countries are represented in this year’s incoming class. The class includes 52 citizens of countries other than the U.S.

As is typical for Macalester, the states best represented in the incoming class are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, California, and New York, Collee said. According to Hamre, 89 Minnesotans chose to attend Macalester this year, and 74 students from other Midwest states are part of the Macalester class of 2008.

The class’s median combined SAT score is 1350, ranking them at about average for Macalester students, Hamre said. According to Hamre, the class is civic-minded, with large numbers having been involved in community service prior to arriving at Macalester.

Females comprise 58 percent of the class. According to Hamre, the class of 2007 has the same male/female ratio. This number is consistent with figures from comparable liberal arts schools around the country, and comparable to the male/female ratio of the class of 2008 at the University of Minnesota, which is 56-percent female.

While official records of class demographics are not taken until the tenth day of class, Hamre said that as of orientation weekend only two students had not fulfilled their plan to enroll.

“The group generally seems very happy and anxious to be in the classroom,” Hamre said.

“They are definitely eager to own what’s going on on campus,” Collee said.