Let the college experience begin: Monmouth welcomes 270 new students

by Barry McNamara / Photos by Kent Kriegshauser

Monmouth, Ill. (08/26/2026) — This year's matriculation ceremony at Monmouth College was a new experience, in many more ways than one.

For starters, it was held inside the college's air-conditioned Dahl Chapel on a Tuesday morning, rather than outside in front of Wallace Hall on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon.

So many questions

But it was also a new experience for the 270 first-year and transfer students who were marking the official beginning of their Monmouth College education. They didn't ask them out loud, but they had so many questions: Do I applaud for the bagpipe processional? (It was muted at first but, yes, feel free to applaud.) Where is that beautiful choir music coming from? (The Monmouth Chorale sang "A Flame of White and Crimson" from the balcony, directly over the heads of the students who'd just entered the chapel, most of them for the very first time.)

And perhaps the most important question of all: Am I going to succeed here?

President Patricia Draves, Dean of the Faculty Mark Willhardt and Scots Student Senate President Sydney Burge '28 of Dunlap, Illinois, provided an answer to that question, assuring the students - who make up the largest incoming class at the college in more than a decade - that Monmouth is where they belong.

"Welcome to our community of learners," said Willhardt. "What we already believe about you, four years at Monmouth will help you become."

Burge is exactly halfway through those four years.

"I remember when I was in your shoes, trying to find out who I was without the stereotypes of middle school and high school following me," she said. "You are going to change a lot. The person who is sitting here today is not the person you'll be in four years."

That change comes, said Burge, by opening up to the plentiful opportunities that Monmouth offers for personal growth.

"As our Commencement speaker from last spring, Brad Nahrstadt ('89), said, 'When opportunity knocks, open the door," said Burge.

President Draves addressed that topic in her remarks, encouraging the students to share the college's values of being curious, connected and generous.

"Build relationships with people whose experiences are different than you," she said, while also encouraging students to pursue leadership opportunities. "Growth happens outside your comfort zone."

Draves closed her comments by telling the students that the campus community is here "to challenge you, to support you, to celebrate you and to help you be ready for success. You belong here you matter here. This is a community that believes in your potential."

Welcome Week and fun facts

Although the matriculation ceremony marked the official start of the academic year, there have been plenty of Welcome Week activities already involving all the students, including a "First Night Frenzy" on Saturday and the annual Playfair on Sunday. On Monday, the new students sat in on their first "Inquiry & Identity" class of the semester and participated in the traditional New Student Walkout, which saw them walk to downtown Monmouth and be greeted by nearly two dozen local businesses.

Additionally, many of the new students are already participating in practices for fall sports or the Fighting Scots Marching Band. About three dozen of the students arrived on campus three weeks early to take part in SOFIA - Summer Opportunity for Intellectual Activity.

In her opening remarks, Vice President for Enrollment Management Stephanie Levenson shared some facts about the class, including that 51% are first-generation college students and 65% are student athletes. After Illinois, the states that supplied the most new students are Texas (12), Indiana (10) and Florida (10). Thirty-seven legacy students are carrying on a family tradition of attending Monmouth. The most common names are Sophia (no relation to the academic program) and Jack.

Shortly before recessing to the sound of more bagpipes, the students recited the Monmouth College Pledge, then walked to Wallace Hall to sign it.

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