ATSU welcomes new students to Missouri Campus
Posted: July 17, 2019
Kicking off “Welcome Week” for new students, Lori Haxton, MA, vice president, student affairs at A.T. Still University’s Kirksville, Missouri, campus presented information about the University’s class of incoming students on Wednesday, July 10.
According to Haxton, 170 students, including 81 women and 89 men from 29 states and Guam, comprise the incoming Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM) class. There are 10 students in the Biomedical Sciences program, including seven women and three men from six states. A.T. Still University’s Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-MOSDOH) received 62 new dental students, including 32 women and 30 men from 25 states.
However, in an effort to know the new students on a deeper level, Student Affairs also collected information beyond demographics. Haxton spoke to students about the wide variety of interests and prior professions held by their peers in the incoming class.
Among the new students, 36 languages other than English are spoken, three branches of the military are represented, as are collegiate and recreational athletes.
Notable standouts included an “acrobatic salsa” dancer, a global backpacker, a student who brought their pet horse to Kirksville, a descendant of a Holocaust survivor, a dueling pianist, a beekeeper, and a former college mascot.
“The admissions staff and faculty interviewers really try to get to know you,” Haxton said. “We have characteristics of this class that are beyond the numbers. The numbers are a little too technical and they don’t really show the true picture.”