The 203 JD program students who entered Valparaiso Law on August 19 include 108 men and 95 women. Their undergraduate majors span the spectrum from political science to engineering, economics, philosophy, English, and theater. Our new students possess a wide range of life experiences, and proven leadership and team skills.

Among our new students, represented self-described racial and ethnic groups are 21 (10 percent) African American; 9 (4 percent) Asian;  17 (8 percent) Hispanic; 2 (1 percent) Native American/Alaskan; 4 (2 percent) Multi-Racial and 150 (74 percent) White.  Our new students range in age from 21 to 43 with an average age of 25.  Sixty-five (32%) students are age 25 or older.

Our entering students claim 121 institutions as their undergraduate alma maters and hail from 37 states as well as 11 foreign countries, including origin and citizenship.  Countries of origin include Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, the Philippines, Canada, Moldova, Vietnam, and Kenya. Collectively, our entering students speak 10 languages in addition to English, including multiple speakers of Spanish, Russian, Polish, French and Arabic.

Seventeen of the entering students have earned Masters degrees, including 4 MBAs and 3 MPAs. One of the 17 has 2 Masters degrees while another student is a CPA.   More than half have achieved academic honors including being inducted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Golden Key (15), being named University-Wide Scholars (9), receiving Honors Scholarships in their Majors  (14 in Political Science, English Literature, and Public Administration), and receiving Athlete-Scholar Awards (5) in Basketball, Fencing, Soccer, Swimming.

Our entering class includes 9 editors and writers for their college’s newspaper or journal and one student who recently wrote and published a science fiction novel.  Three others have conducted scientific research:  one in AIDS, one in toxicology, and one in social cognition.  Still another published a research paper in the Meeting of the Minds Research Journal and was named an International Laureate Scholar. 

Members of the class of 2012 possess life experiences that demonstrate their commitment to significant service in their communities and across the world.  One student has worked as a pregnant/parenting teen case manager at a child welfare agency while 5 others have worked as police officers and for a rescue squad.  One received a Police Officer of the Year award.  Several have been public school teachers and coaches with one serving as an AmeriCorps community worker.  Another student traveled to Jamaica to rebuild a church and a school devastated by a hurricane while another volunteered as an English tutor in Japan. 

Eight of our entering students have served in the military with several receiving multiple award medals, including Airman of the Year.  Another was honored at boot camp as the U.S. Air Force Basic Military Training Honor Graduate.     

Close to 20% of our entering class has participated in varsity undergraduate athletics that run the gamut from wrestling and baseball to swimming and track and field.  Significantly, many of our entering class athletes have been team leaders as cheerleading captains (2), coaches (7), ice hockey captains (3), soccer captains (2), and a fencing medalist in a world championship.   Interestingly, our class also includes several actors, a ballroom dance competitor, a former member of the Los Angeles flute orchestra, 3 jazz band musicians, a member of a gospel choir, and a number of pianists and guitar players.