Central Michigan University announced its official enrollment for fall 2014 on Friday, and the figures reflect positive growth after years of decline. Our growth is being greeted with both celebration and caution. One area that must be celebrated is the increase in international and minority students.

The number of freshman this year increased nearly 26.5 percent to 3,811 students. In addition, the number of international students rose to 1,064, nearly a 40 percent increase from last year.

Total enrollment is now at 27,069 students, representing a one-year increase of 167 students.

We are proud and excited to see CMU fight its way back from what some have considered an enrollment crisis. By increasing marketing expenses by over 2,000 percent, targeting more out of state and out of country students, doling out more scholarships and lowering the criteria for those scholarships, CMU’s enrollment has been thankfully stabilized.

But officials must not forget this is only half the battle. Now the focus must shift to retaining students, which CMU failed to do in 2010 when it achieved record enrollment and, subsequently, a record loss of returning students the following year.

Officials expressed concern about admitting too many students into this year’s freshman class. Crowded classrooms, packed residence halls, lack of parking and overall resources can have just as detrimental an impact on the university as dipping enrollment.

Steven Johnson, vice president of enrollment and student services, told Central Michigan Life last semester that he wanted a maximum of 3,500 to 3,600 students in this semester’s freshman class.

“I am not going to admit more than the capacity we have to handle,” he said.

Director of Undergraduate Admissions Thomas Speakman told CM Life last semester that the university would stop taking deposits from new freshman after the number topped 3,600 or 3,700 students. “We want to take small steps climbing back,” he said. “We don’t want to go from 2,900 to 4,000 in one swoop.”

In one year, the number of new freshman has increased by over 800 students. This is a drastic increase that university officials may have not predicted.

As our typical student fishing pools decrease – regional and statewide freshmen and transfer students – building our international and minority numbers are imperative.

Globally speaking, accepting more international students helps plant the CMU flag in the soil of countries some of us can only dream of visiting.

By giving these students the ultimate CMU experience, both academically and socially, officials can spread the mission statement of the university to lands where many of us can’t even speak the language.

With more than 1,000 new international students on campus, and hopes to grow that number in years to come, CMU must work hard to accommodate these students. That doesn’t just mean in terms of housing and services, it means building specialized areas on campus to meet their unique cultural and spiritual needs.

Doing so will not always be popular, but it will be necessary. All indications point toward the university taking a strong stance against naysayers and those in opposition of things like prayer rooms for Muslim students.

The university is bound to grow, and not just in size. Embracing a level of diversity beyond what we consider our normal, Midwestern student body will make us stronger and prolong the university’s identity as a premier learning institution.

The changing shape and face of our university is a reflection of the changing shape of the world around us, and we commend CMU for wanting to be at the forefront of it all.