NEW PALTZ – SUNY New Paltz
played host to a sea of new students and their parents Thursday, as they
unloaded lines of cars for the new semester. It was the annual rite of
the fall – move-in day for freshmen.
This year, the college welcomed 1,100 first-year students and 800 transfer students from all over the nation and globe.
Where do I put all this stuff?
Upper class atheletes were there to help
SUNY New Paltz Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Lorin Basden Arnold said move-in days are always a spectacle and especially in the fall, the wave of new students bring a renewed energy to the campus, along with plenty of Ikea furniture, bean bag chairs and TVs.
“When the students come back they bring an energy that is missing when they’re not here; and so, you can just feel it on campus during Move-In Day, and then it never really goes away. So, it’s pretty great,” said Arnold.
For many of the first year students, it will be the first time they have lived away from home, bringing with it excitement and anxiety mixed together for both the students, as well as their parents.
SUNY New Paltz Interim VP for Student Affairs Wayne Brumfield, who not only has 25 years of Move-In Day experience working in higher education, but has also been a parent of students having their own Move-In Days, said he can empathize with parents, recalling his own children’s Move-In Days.
“Even though I work on a college campus, still, there’s a little separation there, and anxiety, for dropping my girls off at a new place and I’m going back home; but, after a while, it’s ok. It’s ok,” said Brumfield.
To help welcome new students and make them feel at ease, returning students in athletic organizations, fraternities and sororities spread out in groups across the campus to assist the new students, and their parents with moving belongings into the dorm.
Julia Friedman, a junior and member of their women’s soccer team,
said helping the newcomers is a great ice breaker for them and it acts
as a way to let them know, as soon as they arrive, that there is a student
community at their new home that has their backs.
“Coming in as a freshman, you’re always so nervous, and it’s a frantic situation, and helping everyone move in is just great to help them get started, move in, feel comfortable. So, it’s been good,” said Friedman. “They come out here and they thank us and it’s just really great to know that we’re helping them out, and that they’re appreciating it. It’s great to help out our fellow students and the community,” she said.
The new students will participate in their formal convocation ceremony
today. Then, after a weekend of settling in and welcome events, they head
to class on Monday.
