News in Brief
U.S. News & World Report announced its annual rankings in August. Beloit landed overall at No. 61 among 240 national liberal arts schools, but the college’s position on its short lists is more illuminating. Beloit tied at No. 6 among “Most Innovative Schools” and tied at No.12 on a list of liberal arts schools noted for a “Strong Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching.” Beloit also made the “A+ Schools for B Students,” and “Best Colleges for Veterans” lists, and tied for sixth place with four other schools for highest English as Second Language participation rates.
The Buccaneer football team was victorious at Homecoming, beating Lawrence University 49-34 in front of one of Strong Stadium’s record crowds. The Bucs have doubled their roster this year thanks to a large first-year class. In the local Beloit Daily News, sports writer Jim Franz called the team’s offense “downright dangerous right now.”
#blacklivesmatterbeloit kicked off its 2015-16 programming in September to a standing-room-only crowd in Moore Lounge. The well-attended series is continuing to engage the community in frank discussions about the ways that race and racism play out in society and on campus. This year’s focus is on whiteness and the place of whiteness in anti-racist work.
Between the arrival of a near-record first-year class (the largest since 1974) and the release of the Mindset List in late August, Beloit College dominated airwaves, screens, and newspapers around the country this fall, appearing on NPR, NBC News, Mashable.com, Esquire, and the Huffington Post.
The U.S. Department of Education awarded Beloit College $1.4 million for the next five years to fund its Student Excellence and Leadership (SEL) program (formerly called SSS). SEL provides academic and social support for first-generation college students and students from low-income backgrounds and/or with a documented disability. According to Nicole Truesdell’03, senior director of Academic Diversity and Inclusiveness and Beloit’s McNair Scholars Program director, Beloit is one of very few liberal arts colleges to receive this type of funding.
A dramatically higher percentage of prospective students who visit campus go on to apply to Beloit (64 percent more, in fact). Recognizing this, Beloit has been rolling out the welcome mat for visitors. Among the improvements to the college’s visit program are personalized signage and prime, reserved parking, improved tours that are run by trained students and organized by staff dedicated to visits, and a new preferred partners program that introduces visitors to the city’s restaurants and hotels.
