Video: Scenes from move-in day at Middlebury.

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — The fall semester at Middlebury College will open on Monday, September 12, with 607 new first-year students on campus and a total enrollment, including undergraduates studying abroad, of 2,747 students.

The first-year students, selected from a field of 8,820 applicants, are organized at Middlebury into five “Commons,” or living and learning communities that combine the academic, social, and residential components of college life. The members of the Class of 2020 moved in on September 5 and are experiencing a week of orientation leading up to the start of classes.

All members of the incoming class will gather in Mead Chapel on Sunday, September 11, at 7:30 p.m. for Convocation where President Laurie L. Patton will deliver the Convocation address.

Katy Smith Abbott, vice president for student affairs and dean of the College, and Greg Buckles, dean of admissions, will welcome the Class of 2020 at the traditional ceremony that marks the start of the academic year. Andrea Lloyd, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, will present the faculty (attired in academic regalia) to the new students, and Karina Toy ’17, president of the Student Government Association, will welcome the incoming class on behalf of the student body.

The members of the first-year class represent 45 states, with the largest number of new students coming from Massachusetts followed by New York, California, Connecticut, and New Jersey. There are also 40 foreign countries represented in the class with the most international students coming from China followed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Serbia.

The dean of students, Baishakhi Taylor, said the arrival of new students “heralds the start of the academic year” and restores “much mirth and energy” to the Middlebury campus. “I am looking forward to working with our new and returning students on forwarding the conversation that started last year on inclusion,” Taylor said, “in addition to continuing our journey towards an aspiring and resilient community full of intellectual curiosity and seeking answers to difficult questions together.”

The Class of 2020 will eventually be joined by 103 more first-year students who will arrive for orientation on February 8, 2017.

Among the many events on the calendar for the 2016–17 academic year at Middlebury are the Clifford Symposium September 22–24, Homecoming Weekend September 23–25, and Fall Family Weekend October 7–9.

— Photo by Todd Balfour