YSU welcomes freshmen

YOUNGSTOWN — Monday, some 3,500 students starting classes as freshmen at Youngstown State University begin a new way of life.

They’re not unlike the nine men who, in 1908, took a college-level course in commercial law at the YMCA in downtown Youngstown.

Both groups aspired to higher education.

YSU welcomed incoming freshmen and their families during a convocation Sunday in Beeghly Center followed by a picnic social at Kilcawley Center. It’s a safe bet those in YSU’s first class probably wore suits and ties and, for them, the phone was only a few decades old. Today’s students are dressed more casually, and texting and checking phone messages is second nature to them.

The convocation was complete with a procession of flags from YSU’s colleges and deans. The YSU Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps led by Cadet Battalion Cmdr. Michael Deem served as color guard, and YSU student musicians played.

Read full story in Monday’s Vindicator and on vindy.com