RIT welcomes more than 3,100 new undergraduates this week

Cleyth Panesso, her parents, and their dog, Otis, arrived to a dark parking lot at Rochester Institute of Technology at 6:30 a.m. this morning, 90 minutes before their 8 a.m. appointment.

She was one of more than 3,100 first-year undergraduate students arriving in Rochester this week as they prepare for their first day of classes next Monday.

“She’s been working for this day for many years,” said her father, Juan Panesso, who helped his daughter move into her new home after driving to Rochester from Cape May, N.J. “You guys made move-in so easy. We’re done in an hour.”

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Carlos Ortiz/RIT

Cleyth Panesso, a mechanical engineering major from Cape May, N.J., moves into her residence hall Monday morning.

Panesso, a mechanical engineering major, said the “must haves” she brought from home included her laptop and her favorite blue sweatshirt, which reads “Life is Good.” She didn’t know anyone on campus yet, but a friend had recommended RIT.

Oracle Leonheart, a computer engineering technology major, is from Jakarta, Indonesia. He and his family flew to New York City, rented a car and drove to Rochester, their first visit to campus, to move him in.

What did he bring with him? “Noodles,” he said. “The flavor is not the same as back home.”

The new students come from 47 states (all but Arkansas, North Dakota, and Wyoming), Washington, D.C., and 44 foreign countries, with the largest contingents coming from India, Canada, and China.

They are among the most well-rounded and academically prepared classes at RIT. Their average high school GPA was 93.8 percent, up from 93 percent last year.

The class is also more diverse, with more than 22 percent of new undergraduates identifying as African American, Latin American, or Native American.

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Carlos Ortiz/RIT

Ian Keller, of Robbinsville, N.J., unloads his belongings, including a guitar, as he moves in Monday morning. He’s one of more than 3,100 new undergraduate students moving to campus this week.

There are also 951 students starting their graduate studies at RIT this year, including 13 Fulbright scholars and 123 new Ph.D. students, up from 112 a year ago. The graduate students come from 39 foreign countries, with the largest contingents coming from India, China, and Nigeria.

Other fun facts: The new class has 13 sets of twins. The oldest new undergraduate is 29, and the youngest is 15. And a record 550 have received a Performing Arts Scholarship, given to students who participate in a club, performance, or take lessons in instrumental or vocal music, musical theater, technical production, dance, acting, or circus arts. More than 2,300 students have received the scholarships in the six years since the program began to add more creative students to campus.

Sandra Johnson, senior vice president for Student Affairs, helped welcome the new students and their families, as did hundreds of student orientation leaders and residence advisers who often cheered and broke into dance as the new students pulled up to check into their residence halls.

She said students will find RIT a vibrant and dynamic community, where their ideas can flourish, their dreams take flight, and their futures created.

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Carlos Ortiz/RIT

Orientation leaders clapped, cheered, and danced to welcome more than 3,100 new RIT undergraduates moving in this week.

“We love this time of year,” Johnson said. “It’s great seeing these students come in. Some are going to study cybersecurity. Some are going to be engineers. Some are going to study glass blowing. It’s going to be a real adventure for them, and we’re pleased we can be a part of it.”

The new students will have a weeklong orientation, where they will learn more about RIT, life on campus, services available to them, and the hundreds of clubs and organizations they can join.

Panesso said she may join a quilting club, or the knitting club, Hooks and Needles.

Ian Keller, a computer science major from Robbinsville, N.J., moved in with a Pokémon pillow his brother gave him, and a guitar.

“He also plays tuba and trombone,” said his mother, Lara Keller. “He’s nervous, but he’s excited.”

Classes begin Aug. 26.