Campus ID News
Card, mobile credential, payment and security
FEATURED
PARTNERS

Do you know mindset of your freshmen? Hint: Look for Dakota Fanning or Justin Bieber at freshman orientation

Andy Williams   ||   Aug 21, 2012  ||   

Members of this year’s freshman class, most of whom were born in 1994, prefer to watch television everywhere except on a television, have seen a woman lead the U.S. State Department for most of their lives and can carry school books–those that are not on their e-readers–in backpacks that roll.

Beloit College in Wisconsin has issued its annual Mindset List, something it has produced every year since 1998. The list provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall. This year covers the class of 2016, members of whom have never needed an actual airline ticket or a set of bound encyclopedias.

The class of 2016 spent much of their lives helping their parents understand that you don’t take pictures on film and that CDs and DVDs are not tapes. In these students’ lifetimes, with MP3 players and iPods, they seldom listen to the car radio. In fact, a quarter of the entering students already have suffered some hearing loss.

For this generation of entering college students, Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead. Freshmen should keep their eyes open for Justin Bieber or Dakota Fanning at freshman orientation.

The Biblical sources of terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,” “Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them. Michael Jackson’s family, not the Kennedys, constitutes American Royalty. If they miss The Daily Show, they can always get their news on YouTube. On TV and in films, the ditzy dumb blonde female generally has been replaced by a couple of dumb and dumber males.

The complete list can be accessed here.

|| TAGS:
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

RECENT ARTICLES

Rosty Chen, Michigan State University, video image
Feb 11, 26 / ,

Rate study reveals true cost of campus ID cards at Michigan State

In this episode of CampusIDNews Chats, Rosty Chen, ID Administrator at Michigan State University, explains how his campus card office undertook its first comprehensive rate study to ensure it was charging appropriately for student, staff, and departmental ID cards. Launching their first-ever rate study The effort began with a simple realization. “We’ve never done a […]
Crystal award
Feb 11, 26 / ,

Nominations closing soon for annual NACCU Awards

We are about two months’ out from the NACCU Annual Conference and the nomination deadline for the NACCU Awards program is just days away. Wednesday, February 18 is your last chance to honor a colleague, a peer, your team, or even yourself in one of seven categories. The annual program recognizes commitment and innovation by […]
Ashley McNamara, Apex
Feb 05, 26 / ,

Apex smart lockers drive the evolution of digital dining halls

Smart lockers are becoming a key part of the modern campus dining experience, and Ashley McNamara, vice president of global marketing at Apex, says the shift to fully digital dining halls is driven by student expectations for speed, convenience, and mobile-first experiences. In a conversation with CampusIDNews, McNamara explains how Apex’s smart locker solutions fit […]
CIDN logo reversed
The only publication dedicated to the use of campus cards, mobile credentials, identity and security technology in the education market. CampusIDNews – formerly CR80News – has served more than 6,500 subscribers for more than two decades.
Twitter

Great inverview on the Public Key Open Credential (PKOC) standard with ELATEC's Jason Ouellette, Chairman of the Board for the @PSIAlliance.

Attn: friends in the biometrics space. Nominations close Friday for the annual Women in Biometrics Awards. Take five minutes to recognize a colleague or even yourself. http://WomenInBiometrics.com

Load More...
Contact
CampusIDNews is published by AVISIAN Publishing
315 E. Georgia St.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
www.AVISIAN.com[email protected]
Use our contact form to submit tips, corrections, or questions to our team.
©2026 CampusIDNews. All rights reserved.