Members of the Franklin & Marshall College Class of 2030 took their first steps as Diplomats at Convocation Aug. 20. The time-honored event signifies the beginning of the College’s academic year. Watch the recorded ceremony.

Faculty, staff and student families gathered inside the Alumni Sports & Fitness Center to applaud the 590 first-year and transfer students, the largest incoming class in six years.

“Combine your ambition with your values. Own the impact you have in the world. And as you climb, reach back and help the person next to you to climb with you,” President Andrew Rich said to the incoming class. 

Senior Ibrahim Bin Amjad ’27, student body president, shared a similar sentiment: “At F&M, the realms of possibilities are endless. All you have to do is be willing to try.”

“Embrace college with unbridled curiosity,” said Amjad, who is majoring in government and public policy with a minor in philosophy.

He shared the stage with Provost and Dean of the Faculty Sunita Gupta Kramer '92, who urged students to embrace the unknown in their time at F&M. 

“Make this education your own,” she said. “Sometimes an unexpected course, professor, or subject can change the direction of your life.”

It was a thunderous start to the school year for the first-years, who safely weathered a tornado warning in the closing minutes of the indoor ceremony. As the Class of 2030 exited the ASFC, rain clouds cleared to make way for a sunny semester ahead. 

Meet the Class of 2030

For some, the journey to campus was a short trip across town. For others, it was a 15-hour international flight followed by a connection, and then a train ride. But for the nearly 590 members of the Class of 2030 at F&M, arriving on campus this week marked the beginning of a shared four-year journey.

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