Marist Launches Mindset List in New York City Space in August

In August, Marist College released their first annual “Mindset List.” The list contains about 60, what many people would consider random, facts that pertain to the school’s incoming freshmen class.

Some facts include, “Monica and Chandler have always been married,” and “Among their classmates could be Billie Eilish, Sasha Obama, or Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s daughter, Simone.”

Photo Courtesy of Marist Media Relations

Dr. Martin Shaffer, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and list contributor, said that the list tries to look at things that happened the year the freshmen were born. “We are trying to understand their attitudes and who they are,” said Shaffer. “The list is supposed to be for the faculty and staff.”

According to Shaffer, the Class of 2023 is “more diverse than ever before.” The list helps the faculty and staff at Marist to see what specifically makes this class different from previous classes.

Shaffer hopes to make the Mindset List a “live thing” in the near future. “It comes out and is alive for a couple of days, and then nobody talks about it anymore,” said Shaffer. “Maybe we will consider student input too.”

Freshmen see the Mindset List as a unique and forward thinking initiative that Marist took to better understand the distinctive qualities of new students.

“It’s definitely full of stuff you would never think about,” Amon Rosenzweig ‘23 said. James Kagel ‘23 expressed a similar thought, “It’s definitely cool that Marist is trying to connect with their freshmen like this, it’s another fun take on the Marist experience.”

The Mindset List was pioneered at Beloit College in Wisconsin by Ron Neif, Director Emeritus of Public Affairs, Tom McBride, Professor of English Emeritus, and Charles Westerberg, sociologist in the 1990s. Other colleges and universities have adopted it throughout the past few decades.

Marist was awarded this list for a multitude of reasons, but primarily for the expansive technology at hand, the proximity to New York City and the Marist Poll.

“Marist is a very technological school. It’s a high-tech campus with all of the computer labs around campus and the financial department in Hancock,” said Shaffer. “Also, the Poll will benefit from the list as well. There could be a potential partnership between the Poll and the list in the future.”

“It’s definitely a good way to connect or relate to the new freshman class,” Rosenzweig said. “Especially on a more personal level.”