By Cassidy Lowman ’27, Student Correspondent
The University of Scranton community has always known its university was among the best, but a new classification and publication confirmed this campus pride.
The third Tuesday in September felt more like Christmas morning for those who gathered at Weiss Hall for an historic reveal. The grand lobby was brimming with Royals whose gleaming faces watched the activities and speeches from the lobby stairs and second-floor banister.
Student government vice president, Connor Farrington ’27, a business analytics and accounting double major from Washington, New Jersey, introduced Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., University president. Father Marina was met with booming applause from the students, faculty, staff and community members present for the reveal.
The anticipation behind the reveal was prompted by the University’s new classification as a National University in U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings.
“And so now we get to play with the big fish: Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Georgetown, and all these famous global universities that we hold in such reverence and in such high esteem,” Father Marina said. “We are now within that group.”
Along with announcing that the University is tied for No. 137 among over 420 peers, Father Marina unveiled four additional rankings: No. 47, graduate earnings; No. 71, best private colleges and universities; No. 73, earnings by major; No. 89, graduation rates.
As Father Marina spoke about the additional rankings, he gestured to a row of large placards propped up on displays. Marcus Smith ’27, an English and theater double major from Schuylkill Haven, who has always believed that Scranton belonged in the highest echelon of national colleges and universities, proudly flipped each placard as the achievement was announced.