Bellarmine University welcomed Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre Aug. 17 for a tour of the Highlands campus with the university’s president, Susan M. Donovan, and campus minister, Father John Pozhathuparambil.
Bellarmine’s 552 first-year students arrived on campus a few days later on Aug. 20 for a “Week of Welcome,” a five-day orientation, before classes began Aug. 25.
The week included a day of service and reflection on community engagement Aug. 24. Students volunteered at local agencies, including Catholic Charities of Louisville.
Members of the new class come from 28 states and five countries, according to a press release from Bellarmine. About a third of the first-year students come from outside Kentucky and 72 percent will live on campus.
Donovan set priorities to make the university more accessible when she became president in 2017. More than a third of the new class — 36% — are “first generation” college students and 27% are students of color, according to the university.
Archbishop Fabre will celebrate Mass with the campus community at Bellarmine’s Our Lady of the Woods Chapel on Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. All are welcome to attend.
