William Jewell College’s (WJC) campus is divided into different buildings that all serve different purposes. From dorms to academic buildings, we know where to sort what activity. However, when it comes to the students of the College, many of us may not know where to place each other. The following demographics are compiled from the academic years of 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.
A notable percentage of students are those living on campus. As of the fall of 2016, 84 percent of students and 98.5 percent of first-years live on campus.This high percentage received some attention during the recent Student Senate campaigns and debates, with many cabinets advocating for more flexibility with campus housing policies. But Ernie Stufflebean, associate dean of students and director of residence life, spoke to the rationale of Student Life and the College for having the majority of students living on campus.
“The College’s objective is to have as many Jewell students as possible experience the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in a community that prioritizes learning and engagement, in and out of the classroom. Living in community most effectively prepares students for their future through opportunities to navigate real-life challenges in a challenging yet supportive environment before moving onto the next chapter of their lives,” said Stufflebean.
Another notable percentage is made up of the athletes on campus. In the academic year of 2014-2015, 471 of the 1043 students were WJC athletes. Dr. Darlene Bailey, director of athletics, spoke to the size of the department and how it has changed.
“I am happy with the size of the athletic program. We are at just about the right size in terms of the total roster for most of our sports programs. In a couple of instances, there is still room for growth. Since the 2009-2010 academic year, we have grown the athletic program by about 100 student-athletes. About half of the 100 can be attributed to the adding of men’s and women’s swimming, the rest to deliberately growing the rosters in some of our other sports. For the 2015-2016 academic year, we began with 418 student-athletes. I believe that number could grow by 10 to 15, but that is probably the maximum in the next couple of years,” said Bailey.
Arguably, the second most popular form of participation for Jewell students is Greek life. Currently, about 39 percent of women and 40 percent of men are Greek on Jewell’s campus.
“Panhellenic is very pleased with 39 percent [of] women on campus belonging to a sorority. We aim for all greek women to be actively involved within their chapters and the community. Knowing that almost 40 percent of women at William Jewell College are experiencing leadership opportunities within their chapter and contributing to their community through philanthropy and volunteering is exactly what Panhellenic exemplifies,” said Camille Love, junior chemistry major and president of Panhellenic, the organization in charge of formal recruitment in the spring and that offers other services to the sororities on Jewell’s campus.
Feature photo by Kyle Rivas.