This time a year ago, President Mayme Hostetter was new to campus and her role. So she can relate to some of what new students at Hamline are feeling.
“I remember very much when I felt both excitement and butterflies,” she said to students at Transfer Student Orientation on Sept. 4. She acknowledged that starting somewhere new can bring a mix of anticipation and uncertainty.
This Fall 2026 academic semester, Hamline University welcomed more than 95 transfer students, representing 50 different colleges and universities. Of those students, 64 came from two-year colleges, while 32 came from four-year institutions.
Hostetter told students that becoming part of the Hamline community starts with getting to know the people around you.
“Hamline is a place where folks know you. You know folks,” Hostetter said. ”You can’t walk across campus without saying ‘hey’ to at least a few people.”
In true Hostetter fashion, she gave the students an assignment. Turn to someone they hadn’t met yet and share one thing that drew them to Hamline and one thing they are apprehensive about.
Transfer student Cathy Rodrigue is taking a different path than the one she’s followed for nearly 30 years. After working in the corporate business world, she decided it was time to move away from finance and pursue something she has always been interested in: the environment.
Rodrigue had attended several colleges across the Twin Cities and had enough credits to return to one of them. She chose Hamline instead. For years, her aunt, a Hamline alumna, had encouraged her to consider Hamline.
“In her honor and memory, I thought let me see what Hamline has to offer,” Rodrigue said.
Now an environmental studies and climate major, Rodrigue is making a significant career shift.
“This is an opportunity for me to really do more of what I want to do, as opposed to just doing what I fell into,” she said.
Julia Edwards, a junior transferring from Inver Hills Community College, arrived at Hamline with a clear idea of what she was looking for.
“I really like the campus, how small and walkable it was,” she said. “I like the location. It's not that bad of a commute for me and I liked that they had the ecology and evolutionary biology program.”
But choosing a campus was only part of it, Edwards is also looking forward to finding her place as a Piper.
“I’m probably [looking for] community, getting to know everybody, getting to go to all my classes and seeing how much I can grow here,” she said.
Edwards' hope for community is exactly what President Hostetter asked the new transfer students to begin building.
Hostetter left the students with one final assignment: Remember the Piper you met here today. When you see them on campus say hey to them by name.