Gustavus Welcomes Class of 2017

Approximately 650 first-year students will arrive in St. Peter on the morning of Friday, Aug. 30 to begin their college journey at Gustavus Adolphus College.

As is tradition, families will make their way up the hill on College Avenue in their vehicles where they will be welcomed by an energetic group of Gustie Greeters. As part of another tradition, members of the Gustavus football team will help families unload their vehicles and move belongings into the students’ respective residence hall rooms.

Here are some facts and figures regarding the Class of 2017:

• Average unweighted grade point average of incoming class is 3.65
• Average ACT score of incoming class is 27
• Students hail from 32 different states and six countries
• 22 percent of the class is from outside of Minnesota including 26 students from Wisconsin, 12 from California, 10 from Iowa, eight from North Dakota and six from South Dakota.
• 15.3 percent of the class represent racial minorities
• Six students are from Cancun, Mexico
• 19 percent of the class are legacy students, meaning they have had a parent, grandparent or sibling attend Gustavus

New Student Orientation will take place from August 30 through September 2, and is focused on helping new students with the transition to Gustavus and helping them establish a sense of belonging in the Gustavus community. The schedule for orientation is available online.

Employees and students already on campus should keep the following information in mind on first-year student move-in day:

Parking & traffic: Anyone arriving on campus between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. should allow additional time for travel and parking around campus and should avoid College Avenue if possible, as more than 600 new students will be arriving via the College’s main entrance. Traffic will be directed by College personnel at each entrance; failure to obey personnel will result in citation. Also on Friday, August 30, at 11 p.m., the Lund Center Parking Lot will be closed to faculty, staff, and students and will reopen for campus parking following the First-Year Orientation square dance event that will be held Saturday, Aug. 31, in the evening. Cars remaining in the lot on Saturday evening will be towed to a different lot at the owner’s expense.  Permit parking enforcement begins 7a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 3. Visitor parking is always closed to students and employees and is always enforced.  If you have not registered for a 2013-2016 employee parking pass, you will need to do so and display a new valid permit by Sept, 3. Visit the Campus Safety web page at gustavus.edu/safety to register online through Aug. 30, or come to the Campus Safety office.

Lunch plans: The Marketplace and Evelyn Young Dining Room will be closed for lunch on Friday. Instead, a buffet lunch will be served in Lund Center from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. New students and their family members are complimentary but must present a ticket to eat, and those tickets are available either at the Information Desk or at the event entrance. Sophomore, junior, and senior students who are early arrivals should check in by name at the appropriate cashier station as they have been doing in the Marketplace. All college employees and/or other visitors should be prepared to pay the cashier, to charge to their employee account, or to charge to their own department with supervisor’s approval. Please contact Dining Service in advance with any questions or special circumstances.