Colorado College welcomed 538 first-year students and 31 transfer students on Sept. 6 at Opening Convocation at Shove Memorial Chapel. The ceremony marked the beginning of the college’s 137th academic year.

Vincent Bzdek ’82, news editor for The Washington Post, gave the keynote address, titled “The Joshua Generation.” (Read his address.)

Bzdek, who served as a news editor of the Catalyst, also is the author of two bestselling books, “Woman of the House: The Rise of Nancy Pelosi” and “The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby, and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled.”

Also receiving an honorary degree was Diane Rayor ’80, a leader in the field of classics. She moved to the Grand Rapids campus of the University of Michigan and started with one position in the English department of Grand Valley State in 1991. She and colleagues engineered an expansion job by job, becoming a free-standing classics department in 2000.

Convocation also welcomed new students to CC. The Class of 2014 brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and talent to the campus. The incoming class includes:

  • Students who speak 21 different languages, including Persian, Telugu, and Greek.
  • An internationally recognized Irish step dancer.
  • Eight nationally ranked competitors, including a three-time national champion in alpine skiing, a national gold medalist in jump rope, and a gold equestrian medalist.
  • 18 members who have finished screenplays, 13 of which were produced as shows.
  • A student who earned more than $40,000 from a self-started ultimate Frisbee T-shirt company.
  • A two-time grand prize winner in a national gingerbread competition.
  • A variety of leaders, including 17 student government presidents, 24 service organization leaders, and 75 heads of school groups, ranging from Quidditch Club to philosophy societies to ski and snowboard groups.