Marist Mindset List for Class of 2026 Released

The list gives ten talking points based on topics and events that shape the worldview of current college freshmen.

The Marist Mindset List team (L-R): Professor Tommy Zurhellen, Associate Professor of English; Dr. Joyce Yu-Jean Lee, Assistant Professor of Art and Digital Media; and Dr. Vanessa Lynn, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice. Photo courtesy of Marist College

Marist College released its fourth annual Mindset List based on topics and events important to the incoming freshman class. The list features ten items meant to be talking points that spark discussion between students, their peers, faculty and parents.

While Marist began producing the Mindset List in 2019, it was first created in 1998 for the Beloit College Class of 2002. Tom McBride and Ron Neif constructed the list at the Wisconsin college, bullet-pointing the differences in worldview between college freshmen and older generations based on what had or had not happened in the students’ lifetime. After 20 years of producing the list, McBride was planning on retiring but wanted the list to live on.

Thanks to Tommy Zurhellen, Associate Professor of English, who named McBride as his mentor, the Beloit Mindset List became the Marist Mindset List.

Marist’s version of the list maintains the same mission as the original, but instead of establishing what students do not know that their elders would, it provides topics as discussion points, highlighting the issues that are important to today’s freshmen.

This year’s list includes: sports communication; political science; computer science; ethics; global studies; environmental science; diversity, equity and inclusion; public health; education and fashion. It was put together by Zurhellen; Dr. Vanessa Lynn, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Dr. Joyce Yu-Jean Lee, Assistant Professor of Art and Digital Media. The topics on the list were chosen after surveying students and following trends in the media.

“While every Marist Mindset List has explored what touches and impacts an incoming class, this year we also see how many of the phenomena listed impact so many of us,” said Lynn as a part of Marist’s press release on the 2022 list. “The list can be truly inter-generational.”

Erick Perez ’26 had not heard of the list previously but agreed that the list featured accurate topics which inform the world view of people his age.

“I can see myself having discussions about many of these topics with my friends,” said Perez. “I also think these topics are worthwhile, like environmental science, since it’s really important for my generation to make sure our future is safe.”

When asked why it’s important to keep the Mindset List going, Zurhellen said, “I think it’s the one thing out there that really cares what incoming college students think and the issues they care about. We always say we need younger people to vote more and that they don’t know the issues; that’s not true; they just don’t always know how to voice those opinions.”