DEMOREST - Piedmont College students—including a record number of freshmen in the Class of 2019—opened the fall semester with a traditional Convocation service recently that marked the college’s 118th year.
President James F. Mellichamp and 125 faculty members in academic robes marched into the Chapel for the service, which featured music by the Piedmont Singers and a Convocation address by the Rev. Waltrina Middleton, Minister for Youth Advocacy and Leadership Formation for the United Church of Christ national office in Cleveland, Ohio.
Piedmont’s total enrollment this fall for the Demorest and Athens campuses is 2,264 students, representing a 7-percent increase from last fall’s enrollment of 2,120 students. Cindy Peterson, Dean of Admissions, said the increase includes 285 freshmen, the largest incoming class in the college’s history.
“They are academically strong,” Peterson said. “With an average high school GPA of 3.47, they represent one of our most talented, engaged, and diverse groups of students.” Peterson said 15 percent of the freshmen are from outside the state.
In addition to the larger freshman class, enrollment growth also came from the college’s graduate programs, which increased from 834 students last fall to 980 this year.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/9/333007/piedmont-welcomes-largest-ever-freshman-class