SMU’s new president, in his inaugural address, celebrated a university on a dramatic rise amid a powerful city on the move.
“This is our moment to reimagine what is and what can be possible for SMU, and for each of our students,” President Jay Hartzell said. “To dramatically accelerate our academic, research and athletic ascent. To challenge the future, provide our graduates with unparalleled lifetime value and to become the most relevant university in the country.”
More than 1,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, neighbors, and distinguished guests from across academia and the nation attended the inauguration and installation ceremony on Sept. 12 at the Moody Coliseum.
Student body president Will Leathers (class of 2026) spoke about the excitement of having a new SMU president for the first time in 30 years.
“Students, families, alumni and prospective students visiting campus are sensing how there is no time like now to be a student on the Hilltop and in Dallas with this new era of leadership,” Leathers said.
Hartzell noted, “Something truly extraordinary is happening here at SMU. Can you feel it? I can, and it is a huge part of what drew me here.
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Preston Hollow
“Brilliant minds, daring ideas and boundless energy have ignited our classrooms, labs, performance halls, museums and athletic fields,” he said. “This is happening at a time when higher education is being rethought, when technology is transforming how we learn and lead, and when our home city of Dallas is reaching a new level of national and global prominence.”
Class of 2029
SMU welcomed its largest and most academically accomplished class of new Mustangs to campus this fall, including more than 1,700 first-year students and more than 400 transfer students.
Following a successful first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), SMU is experiencing an all-time high in student demand. A record number of first-year students submitted applications for Fall 2025, increasing by 56% compared to the previous year. Transfer student applications also increased by 63%.
The new students come from 46 states and 49 countries —along with more than 300 from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Forty-two percent are from Texas.
This is the strongest class academically, with an average ACT of 32 and SAT of 1400 – representing the top 3% in the nation. Nearly half of the incoming class ranked in the top 10% of their graduating class.
At least 420 new first-year students are the first in their family to attend college.
The largest number ever will receive Federal Pell Grants, which are awarded to students from low-income households to promote access to higher education.
Last fall, SMU waived its application fee for all first-year and transfer students in celebration of joining the ACC. To keep the momentum going, the Undergraduate Admission office is waiving the fee indefinitely to make it easier for future students to become a Mustang.
— Compiled by staff
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