Towing their suitcases and luggage trunks, their televisions and their refrigerators, more than 1,400 students in the Class of 2015 arrived at Elon University on Friday morning under a sweltering summer sun with humidity blanketing the region.
Idling cars lined the roads surrounding campus as early as 7:30 a.m. when the residence halls officially opened to new students. Traffic patterns were altered slightly to allow freshmen and their families access to the Colonnades neighborhood, where 280 beds in three new buidlings complete a complex that is heated and cooled by a geothermal system under the grassy commons area.
Orientation Leaders and Residence Life staff greeted students and their families as they unloaded vehicles and checked in at various locations across the university’s 600-acre campus. Top university administrators, including Elon President Leo M. Lambert and Provost Steven House, joined with other staff members and physical plant workers to assist families in carrying clothes, electronics and other items into the halls.
Orientation Leader and sophomore Gloria So, standing outside the Hook/Barney/Brannock halls shortly before 3 p.m., said a fun part of her day was helping new students feel welcomed. One of her best memories? Watching a freshman try to unload four cars worth of luggage into her room.
“They ended up taking a carful back home,” said So, who added that her time helping others was certainly worth it. “I want to help students love Elon as much as I do.”
Freshman Brian Mezerski of Pittsburgh, Pa., had finished moving into Harper Hall in the Colonnades neighborhood by midday. Mezerski praised the students, staff and administrators making move-in an easier process for freshmen. He also marveled at the residence hall that he’ll call home for nine months – Harper Hall is one of three new buildings to open for 2011 in the Colonnades.
“They’re spectacular,” he said. “I’ve described it as a hotel to some of my friends back home. My only fear of dorms was living in a cave with cinder blocks. This is definitely not a cave.”
Other new students lauded the university for their own introduction to campus life and the move-in process.
“Everybody was ready, and there were so many people ready to help,” said Taylor Johnston, an incoming freshman from Hockessin, Del., who drove to North Carolina on Thursday and arrived on campus to move into Brannock residence hall first thing Friday. “Not knowing where to go? Not a problem. People took things for me.
“I still feel like I’m on vacation, going home in a week,” she added. “It still hasn’t hit me that I’m going to live here for a year.”
The move-in took place several hours before a rescheduled Convocation ceremony moved up because of Hurricane Irene. The storm, which will impact the eastern part of North Carolina, was initially predicted to bring strong rain and winds to the Piedmont. University leaders altered the Orientation weekend schedule days beforehand a precaution.