Many experiences will unite college freshman this year.

But first day jitters, cheering at Homecoming events, and cramming for finals, will not be the end of the story for freshmen.

The book, “A Hope in the Unseen” by Ron Suskind, will also serve to unite the class this year. It was this year’s book for the Eastern Reads summer reading initiative, a new program connecting Eastern freshmen through literature.

All incoming freshmen were required to read the book before the start of fall term.

Feedback was collected through quizzes and discussion groups held on Friday, as the students moved in. These were prescheduled and were used to ensure the students read the book but also to hear their comments on the work.

Julia Gillespie, a theatre and English major, is one of these freshmen.

For freshmen like Gillespie, the book served to encourage her to consider other viewpoints and cultures.

“It really inspired me to be more accepting of other races,” Gillespie said.

The book, a biography, follows Ballou High School student, Cedric Jennings, through his last, difficult year of high school in the inner city to his junior year at Brown University.

Gillespie said the book was inspiring because it showed how people live a completely different lifestyle in comparison to the one in which she was raised.

The story first appeared as a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal, and earned Suskind the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing. The series was published as a book in 1998.

The main character, Jennings, eventually graduated from Harvard with his master’s degree in Education in 2002.

Jennings will visit Eastern and give a lecture about his life at 7 p.m. Sept. 24, in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Gillespie said she cannot wait for his visit, and is interested to hear more about his life.

The book was selected by a committee formed by Provost Blair Lord, said Bonnie Irwin, dean of the Honors College, who leads the program. They chose the book because it would “give students something to think about.”

Irwin said the book’s content would also provide students with a story they could relate to their own lives.

She said she hopes freshmen take from the book a positive attitude toward their academic experience at Eastern.

“There are so many opportunities to learn so many things, and we want to make sure students take full advantage,” Irwin said.

Irwin said she has heard a lot of positive feedback from students and teachers about the book.

Gillespie is one of the students who liked the book, and gave it positive feedback.

“I enjoyed it from beginning to end,” she said.

Gillespie said she enjoyed reading the book so much she might read it again soon, and said she has discussed the book with friends who have not yet read it.

Irwin said she thinks next year all new students entering Eastern will be required to read a similar book, which will be chosen after recommendations from students are considered by the Eastern Reads Committee.

For more information on the Eastern Reads program, click here.