Photo Spotlights

Students throng the quarter mile on the first day of classes. With a record number of freshmen and transfer students, RIT’s total enrollment of over 18,500 students is the highest in history.

The newest class of Rochester City Scholars were welcomed to RIT in a ceremony Aug. 21 at Liberty Hill, President Bill Destler’s residence. This year, 18 students from the Rochester City School District are part of the sixth freshman class entering the program. The students are graduates of East High School, School of the Arts, World of Inquiry, Rochester STEM High School, Rochester Early College International High School, Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School and James Monroe High School.

From left, RIT/A.U.K. President Winfred Thompson, RIT President Bill Destler and RIT Provost Jeremy Haefner signed a renewal of the RIT/A.U.K. partnership. RIT’s partnership with the American University in Kosovo Foundation began in 2003 and currently enrolls more than 550 undergraduate students in degree programs offered by the RIT School of Individualized Studies.

President Bill Destler welcomed back faculty and staff with his annual “Address to the Community” on Aug. 21. Destler said RIT is “on the cusp of greatness” and cited record-high applications and enrollment, more research and private investment, and more opportunities for growth with the Clinical Health Sciences Center, MAGIC Spell Studios and the creation of an advanced manufacturing photonics center in Rochester.

The Convocation for New Students and Families welcomed them to the RIT community. Keynote speaker was Joe Williams, a criminal justice lecturer in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, who won the Outstanding Teaching Award for Non-Tenure Track Faculty this year.

First-year students Georgina Buckingham and Ryan Ostler march in the Tiger Walk to the Convocation for New Students and Families in the Gordon Field House. A record 2,940 freshmen have enrolled this year. The new RIT Faculty & Staff Alumni Chapter co-hosted the event with the Center for Orientation & Transition and the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. There are more than 1,400 RIT alumni employed by the university that are a part of the new chapter. The alumni chapter will be coordinating special events and social activities in the future and picked Tiger Walk to kick off the academic year.

Tenzin Donzey, a Saunders College of Business graduate student from Tibet, peruses items in the inaugural Goodbye, Goodbuy! sale. The sale is the result of the collection of usable goods from students during spring move-out week. In total, 60,000 pounds of items, including clothing, food and housewares, were saved from landfills. The sale continues 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Aug. 18-22 in the Student Life Center’s rear basketball courts. Hot items yesterday were furniture, lamps, refrigerators and storage bins. For more information, go to rit.edu/goodbyegoodbuy.

RIT students march in the Tiger Walk to the Convocation for New Students and Families in the Gordon Field House. A record 2,940 freshmen have enrolled this year. The RIT Faculty & Staff Alumni Chapter is co-hosting the event with the Center for Orientation & Transition and the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The Resource Fair, taking place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 18 in the Gordon Field House, is a comprehensive event that allows new students and their families to get their questions answered, meet with staff members, take care of business, and get information regarding the resources and services available at RIT and in the community. This is also the location for all new students and families to check in for Orientation. Participating offices, departments and selected vendors include Registrar, Information and Technology Services, Dining Services, Student Financial Services, Financial Aid, and Parking and Transportation Services. From left, Swetha Iyer and Shweta Yakkali from India and first-year graduate students in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, pick up some RIT T-shirts.

Gabriel Broderick, a first-year College of Science student from Marblehead, Mass., gets some help moving from his father, Michael. His mother, Theresa, right, is a 1984 and 1993 RIT alumna. More than 3,400 first-year and transfer students are expected to move into their dorms today. Returning students move in during the rest of the week, and classes begin Aug. 24.

Harvey Palmer, dean of the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, today announced his retirement from the college he has led for the past 15 years. Palmer, who shaped the college into one of the top undergraduate and graduate engineering programs in the country, recognized for programs in nanotechnology, 3D printing and sustainable engineering, will step down June 30, 2016. Palmer is seen here in a photo taken for the August-September 2014 issue of Athenaeum.

Dawn Carter, senior lecturer in biology, is the coordinator for the RIT community garden. The garden began in 2009 using sustainable materials and methods. It’s divided into several individual plots and common areas. Any surplus is donated to Recover Rochester or Foodlink.