As the dawn breaks on a new academic year at Lewis & Clark, campus appears to be returning to a state of relative normalcy.
Canvas bags are being embroidered on the lawn outside Templeton Student Center, the Copeland Hall fire alarms regularly blare their deafening tune and ambient sounds of DJ Poopie Bum boom through the grounds of LC.
As the dust of move-in week begins to settle, a new wave of social and educational chaos has graced campus: the class of 2025. With more than 750 students, LC’s current freshman class is the largest yet. Since New Student Trips (NSTs) began in mid-August, campus has been bustling with newcomers ready to begin their LC experience.
Jasper Baur ’25 of Topanga, California came to LC in hopes of meeting people who share his interest in environmentalism. After participating in the Marmot Research NST in Olympic National Park, Baur says that many of the like-minded people he met embody what he hoped to find at LC.
“It was a great way of integrating students into the environment … and allowing them to understand what Lewis & Clark is about,” Baur said.
Another element quintessential to the new student experience is New Student Orientation (NSO). This year activities included a range of community service projects, guest speakers, discussion sessions, a silent disco and a drag performance hosted by LC’s student-led drag show, Gagged.
NSO allows new students to break into small groups of 16-20 in order to cultivate more personal connections. For many students, like Lila Ward ’25, this allowed for a seamless introduction to the campus social scene. After over a year in COVID-era high school, she was thrilled to be moving onto campus with a fresh start.
“We’re all so starved for social interaction,” Ward said. “Everyone is so friendly and nice.”
In addition to meeting new people, Beau Staun-List ’25 noted the service day as one of her favorite parts of NSO.
“(It) was meaningful because I was able to take part in writing cards for hospitalized kids,” Staun-List said.
“I liked that Lewis & Clark places importance on civic engagement and volunteer work.”
In that vein, Staun-List intends to extend this community involvement beyond NSO by joining Garden Club and other LC student organizations.
With the size of this year’s freshman class comes a multitude of adjustments that have to be made around campus. One of these accounts for the overcrowding of campus housing, which prompted the creation of the forced triple-double room, lovingly referred to as the “trouble.” In addition, several common rooms have been converted into doubles and triples, and many students have been moved into subterranean conditions in the basement rooms of Copeland and Forest halls.
To add to the post move-in week shuffle, Forest Halls have struggled with the sporadic loss of hot water, Fields Dining Hall is short-staffed and lines for the mailroom often wind well past the Council Chamber. Despite the ever-changing circumstances, students remain positive and ready to tackle all that this year may throw at them. When asked about his thoughts on the coming year, Baur’s response to the growing pains on campus is one of promise.
“Even though the large student body may seem daunting, it’s bringing a lot of new and eager students,” Baur said. “It’s making everyone more willing to get involved and excited for the year.”
Amidst the masses of LC’s class of 2025 lies a vibrant culture of students already anxious to make their voices heard. From Instagram affirmation accounts (@lcaffirmations) to club meetings packed with first year students, this year’s freshman class brims with energy, paving the way for the next four years on Palatine Hill.
Photography by Jasper Bauer
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