Today's graduates are probably the last to remember when the Apple Macintosh Performa 6400/180 computer, priced at $1,646, was the preferred computer package for incoming freshmen.
About 90 percent of the 1,050 to 1,075 bachelor's degrees to be handed out today will go to members of the Class of 2001, whose Performas long ago became public BlitzMail terminals.
The most popular majors for the class were biology, economics, English, government and history, according to Assistant Registrar Nancy Broadhead.
Graduates are citizens of almost 20 different countries, with the largest groups coming from Canada and India. The most heavily represented U.S. states are New York, Massachusetts, California, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The Class of 2001 shined when it came to Language and Foreign Study Abroad programs -- 51 percent of graduates participated in at least one term abroad and more than 50 students went on two or more programs.
Upon matriculation, the '01s had reached near gender parity with 51.1 percent male and 48.9 percent female in a class of 1,091 students. Thirty-four transfer students have since joined the class.
About one out of four members of the class was a minority, the highest ratio ever for the College at the time.
The Class of 2001 was able to benefit from the need-blind policy of the College for the first time. The class saw a 2.2 percent increase in scholarship recipients, making the number of students on financial aid close to 50 percent.
One area in which the '01s were unique is musical propensity. When they matriculated, there were more musicians in the class than previous years with 26 percent of the class playing a musical instrument in high school.
