HOBOKEN—799 freshmen were welcomed to the Stevens Institute of Technology at a convocation ceremony this past Wednesday, the largest entering class the university has ever had. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer were on hand to congratulate the new students.
Stevens President Nariman Farvardin said the Class of 2018 was also the most academically distinguished class Stevens has ever admitted. The median SATs of students entering Stevens has increased 50 points in the past three years.
Farvardin made clear what he believes his institution offers these young people—a ticket to a better life. “College graduates volunteer at higher levels, vote at higher levels, lead healthier lifestyles, and prepare their schooling better than the rest of the population. In the case of Stevens, they also make more money, with an average starting salary for $66,000 for the Class of 2013 graduates.”
The gospel of disruption is alive and well at Stevens. Starting this year, all Stevens freshmen will take a required course on entrepreneurship and have the option to join the new Society of Innovators and Entrepreneurs. Stevens has also launched an innovation and entrepreneurship pre-college program for high school students.
Stevens also runs the Scivantage FinTech Incubator, a 12-week program that, in the words of Farvardin, “empowers entrepreneurs and early-stage startups to develop dynamic and disruptive technologies that will transform the financial services industry.”
“the greatest stumbling block to enjoying and appreciating these few years is really the temptation to define yourself dishonestly.”
Fulop, who is Jewish and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, recalled meeting with a Pakistani Muslim imam during his first campaign for city council in Jersey City. When the imam asked him what kind of last name Fulop was, he said it was Eastern-European. “I never felt worse about myself that I did that day,” said Fulop.
Fulop realized just how foolish he had been when the imam called him on a Jewish holiday two weeks later to wish him a happy day.
“It turned out that all the judgment I was afraid of was going on in my own head,” said Fulop.
In her remarks, Mayor Zimmer encouraged Stevens students to “view Hoboken as your urban model,” pursuing engineering and design projects that can help the city to be safer, healthier and more sustainable.
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