Classes began Wednesday, August 19, for the 2026-27 academic year, with Catawba welcoming the largest incoming groups of new students in College history. Together, those milestones mark a year of both reflection and forward momentum for a College whose story began in 1851.
Catawba begins the year with a total student body of 1,389, including 1,283 undergraduate students and 106 graduate students. Students come to Catawba from 35 states and 45 nations, bringing a breadth of experiences and perspectives to the campus community. Among first-year students, 81% are living on campus.
For 175 years, generations of students have come to Catawba to learn, discover their purpose, and consider how they might use their talents in service to others. This fall, more undergraduate students than ever before are adding their stories to that history.
The beginning of the academic year was also marked by Opening Convocation, bringing students, faculty, and staff together to consider what it means to be part of the Catawba community and the responsibilities that come with that membership.
Catawba’s 175th anniversary coincides with the 250th anniversary of the United States, providing a meaningful backdrop for President David P. Nelson’s Opening Convocation address and his reflection on the ideals that have shaped both institutions.
“Our nation, like our college, is guided by an Ideal,” Nelson said.
For Catawba, that Ideal is Scholarship with Character and Culture for Service, words that have long expressed what a Catawba education is intended to accomplish beyond academic achievement alone.
“It is in this context that we at Catawba pursue scholarship with character and culture for service,” Nelson said.
During his address, Nelson drew connections between the Catawba Ideal and the principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence. Both offer aspirations toward which a community can continually strive, even when individuals and institutions do not always fully live up to them.
"Statements and documents like these are important ways of living with intention, about aiming for the good,” Nelson said.
That idea takes on particular meaning during Catawba’s 175th year. The College has changed considerably since its founding in 1851, including its move to Salisbury in 1925, the growth of its academic offerings, and continued investment in the campus and student experience.
This year’s record undergraduate and transfer classes are another reflection of that momentum. Students are arriving at Catawba through multiple pathways, bringing new experiences, perspectives, and ambitions to a community designed to help them see their possibilities and cultivate their purpose.
Even as the student body grows, the personal connections that define the Catawba experience remain central. The average undergraduate class size is 13, creating opportunities for students to know their professors, ask questions, collaborate, and take an active role in their education.
Yet amid that growth, a central question behind a Catawba education remains remarkably consistent: What will students do with what they learn?
Nelson reminded the campus community that Opening Convocation is more than a ceremonial beginning to the semester. It is an invitation to consider that question together.
“The convocation address is a call, so this is about vocation, this is about our calling to be good citizens and good neighbors, on our campus, in our community, in our state, and in our nation,” Nelson said.
That calling will take shape throughout the year in classrooms and laboratories, on stages and athletic fields, through research and internships, in conversations between students and faculty, and through service and engagement across Salisbury and beyond.
Students also begin the year on a campus continuing to invest in how they live, learn, and connect. New and renewed spaces across Catawba are creating additional opportunities for community, collaboration, sustainability, and student success while positioning the College for the generations still to come.
Those investments point toward Catawba’s future. Its 175th anniversary, however, is about more than looking backward or celebrating how far the College has come. It is an opportunity to consider what should endure.
Across generations, Catawba students have been encouraged to develop their abilities while cultivating the character to put those abilities to meaningful use. This year, a record number of undergraduate students joins that continuing story, carrying forward both the opportunities of a Catawba education and the responsibility to determine where their own good will go.
At 175, Catawba moves forward with an enduring aspiration: to educate students who think deeply, live with purpose, care for their neighbors, and use what they know in service to others.
