Last fall, Kent State University welcomed 5,223 freshmen to campus.

“At this point in time, we anticipate being in a similar position as last year with an expected first-year class between 4,250 and 4,300,” said Sean Broghammer, the vice president of Enrollment Management.

Because of the anticipated number of students attending in the fall, this year’s Destination Kent State was one of the biggest compared to past years.

“In talking to our pro-staff, which you know is our bosses, our higher up team, this is the biggest influx of freshmen we have ever seen on this campus,” said Hayden Cruz, a junior journalism major and Destination Kent State flashguide.

Cruz made note of the number of students present for the days in which the gold team Destination Kent State flashguides were in charge.

“For gold team, we had a day that was 170 students to start. And then some students didn’t show up, and that was the lowest number we have ever seen for our programming this summer.” He continued, “But, then, our highest was just under 300.”

Junior fashion merchandising major Ari Robinson, another Destination Kent State Flashguide, made note of the average number of students in attendance for the gold team.

“Every day when I was on the check-in table, I think our average number was about 270,” Robinson said.

Sophomore biology major Abygail Deemer, a Destination Kent State flashguide, explained the number of students present on the blue team days of Destination Kent State.

“Comparatively, we were told that typically our days we had about 200 students there and we had typically 250 to 270 some days,” she said.

The college that had the most number of students in attendance during Destination Kent State was the College of Arts and Sciences.

“I know Arts and Sciences always had 70 students every single session, it was a large number of students,” Robinson said.

Freshmen music education major Liz Tobon noticed, from interacting with incoming freshmen, that many of them chose to major in sciences.

“The biggest trend I saw was sciences like nursing,” she said. “The College of Arts and Sciences that was a big one. I think there was a lot in business.”

Since the fall semester has yet to start, Broghammer is only able to share limited information about enrollment numbers.

“Kent State has received a record number of applications this year, but that may not lead to a record first-year enrollment,” he said. “I will not be able to provide much more information until we get closer to the start of the fall term.”

Another reason for the enrollment number is that other factors can influence whether or not a student chooses to attend in the fall.

For some, like Tobon, the university is close to her home and offers plenty of opportunities.

“I chose to attend Kent because it was far away enough from home, but it was close enough for me to go back because I only live 45 minutes away,” she said.

Tobon continued, “I really liked the opportunities at Kent and how many different classes there are.”

Deemer also noticed proximity being a reason freshmen chose Kent State.

“A lot of it was ‘Oh, it was close,’” Deemer said.

Another reason students are choosing to attend Kent is the campus environment, Cruz noted.

“Many of these students also say, ‘You know, I picked this campus because of the way that it is.’ It’s an actual campus, and there’s a small little town next to it, and it’s got that atmosphere you want going into college,” Cruz said.

The large number of incoming freshmen does not discourage freshmen like Tobon, as she views it as an opportunity.

“I’m actually really excited. It’s going to give me a really big opportunity to meet a lot of people my age because my last school was a very tight-knit community.”

She continued, “I didn’t get to meet too many people, especially because of Covid, as one, or because I went to an all-girls school.”

Deemer explained how Kent’s student life appealed to her and other current students because of the pandemic.

“I think Kent offers a wide variety of interactions, especially for different niche groups, so how we have some clubs and safe spaces on campus,” she said. “I think that is a definite appeal for students currently because we were stuck inside for so long, and we weren’t always given that interaction through high school because of Covid.”

Deemer continued, saying these same reasons apply to the incoming freshman class.

“I think finding those places where interactions and human connection are granted and having so many opportunities on campus has been a huge draw for the incoming freshmen class,” she said.

Many have had some concerns about how the large class will impact campus.

Cruz, who formerly instructed the Peer Leadership Training Course, said the other facets of the Student Success Program will be equipped to handle all the incoming freshmen.

“It can seem scary being in front of those people, trying to make sure you’re giving them the best experience here at Kent,” he said. “But if you look at it from the way that they’re just looking for that experience, you can open the door for them and say, ‘I’ve had a great time here, great enough to be here in front of you and talk about that experience.’”

Having such a large number present at Destination Kent State did not cause many issues for the Flashguides, as Deemer noted having more students became a benefit.

“I would be more excited to have a larger group because they feed off each other’s energy,” she said. “The more people filling up that room, it was like you knew you were going to have a good day,” she said.

Tobon also believes that there are benefits with numbers.

“I feel like because we’re such a big class, we can be such a big community. And if one of the students gets hurt, there will be so many people who will come together,” she said.

The number of fellow freshmen is not Tobon’s top priority, learning to adjust to college life is.

“Probably being away from home, that’s going to be one [adjustment],” Tobon said. “It’s taking care of myself and basically throwing myself out into the world and being an adult.”

Regardless of the number of freshmen present on campus, Robinson wanted to remind upperclassmen to treat these underclassmen with kindness as they adjust.

“I know it’s easy as upperclassmen to feel like we’re better than the freshmen, but at the end of the day, just remember we were in their shoes at one point of time,” she said. “So if you see someone asking questions or someone getting lost, try to help them out.”

Adriana Gasiewski is a staff reporter.Contact her at [email protected].