Excitement was in the air as 5,218 students made their return to campus and moved into the residence halls between Aug. 18-22. The extra time for move-in week enabled staff to control the number of students, parents and family members on campus at any one time, and move-in worked around the Commencement exercises held on Aug. 20 at Manchester Field for our summer 2021 graduates.
Several events occurred before, during and after the move-in process to help students become acclimated to campus and welcome them back with open arms.
Another exciting event in conjunction with move-in was the Living-Learning Program (LLP) Coordinators' LLP Meet and Greet events, which were hosted in various locations throughout the residence halls. Students were eager to learn more, and the excitement and buzz of being back in person reverberated throughout campus.
Capping move-in week was Blastoff, a popular event featuring tables with 200+ of our student organizations and representation from university departments and campus resources. Although severe weather attempted to put a damper on the festivities, a short delay didn’t deter the approximately 6,000-8,000 students who attended the tabling portion of the event, then stuck around for the exciting after-party hosted by the Undergraduate Student Government’s (USG).
The after-party, which took place on the Student Green, was complete with a DJ and was capped off by an impressive fireworks display. The fireworks display undoubtedly served as a proper way to kick off the start of the 2021 academic year with a bang.