Welcome Week entertainment planned for all students
OXFORD, Miss. – Students began moving their rugs, lamps and wall art into residence halls Friday at the University of Mississippi. The fall semester officially begins Monday (Aug. 24) under the leadership of new Chancellor Dan Jones.
Adding fun to the first week of classes, Welcome Week activities are planned and include free entertainment for all students.
About 4,000 students are expected to move into the university’s 12 residence halls, said Lorinda Krhut, director of student housing and residence life. “We are excited that school is starting, and we have a wonderful staff. We’re looking forward to a great year.”
Occupancy of the residence halls is at 99 percent, Krhut said. “We have a few individual spaces in each building, but no large-scale vacancies.”
Kristina Fields, a freshman education major from Jackson, was getting acclimated to her room in Crosby Hall after a hectic orientation session Thursday. She said she is looking forward to meeting new people and learning her surroundings.
“Move-in day was kind of crazy, but once we got everything settled in, I like my new room,” she said. “I’ve met some people and they’re nice. I didn’t think it would be this much fun but I love it.”
Besides the residence halls coming to life, UM’s new residential college was also bustling with activity as parents helped students move in their worldly possessions. The new state-of-the-art academic “community” houses 465 undergraduates with a 2.5 minimum grade-point average.
The living environment is intended to nurture and broaden the scope of learning. Features include a dining hall, fitness center, library, computer center, music practice room and study rooms. Six types of room layouts are available, ranging from a standard double suite to a corner suite of four single rooms. Freshmen are assigned to doubles, and each suite has its own bathroom.
Craig Threlkeld, a senior mathematics major from Oxford, has chosen to live in the residential college this year.
“I decided to live here for my senior year because I had lived off campus in an apartment for a while, and I wanted to live where everyone would know everybody and interact with each other,” he said.
Threlkeld, who attended the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, hopes the residential college will re-create the sense of community he felt at the boarding school, where everyone went to class together, studied together and ate meals together.
“There is a cafeteria to serve the residential college students all day long,” Krhut said. “And there is a main kitchen, which will be used for demonstrations and teaching students about cooking techniques. There is also a kitchenette with a microwave and refrigerator on each floor.”
Daniel E. O’Sullivan, associate professor of French and the senior fellow at the residential college, lives there with his wife, Patricia, and two children. O’Sullivan, a native of Worcester, Mass., specializes in medieval language and literature and teaches courses at all levels of the French language, as well as literature and linguistics. His wife is an instructor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion.
Beginning Monday, students can take advantage of Welcome Week activities sponsored by the Student Programming Board, Campus Programming and other campus organizations.
“We have planned a diverse schedule of events this year to appeal to all Ole Miss students,” said Bradley Baker, coordinator of Student Affairs programs with the Department of Campus Programming. “Welcome Week is one of the most exciting times to be on campus, and we hope to provide fun entertainment for everyone during the first week of school. “We have many outdoor events such as ‘Star Trek’ in the Grove, laser tag on Wednesday night and Rebel Challenge Day on Saturday to entertain everybody. The schedule throughout the week provides opportunities for students to participate in all of the events before or after class.”
Activities include rock wall climbing, trivia contests, poster and T-shirt sales, and a community service agency fair. Union Unplugged entertainment at the Student Union takes place at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and screenings of the movie “Star Trek” are set for Friday evening. The freshman convocation is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 27) in the Ford Center.
For more information about the Department of Campus Programming, visit http://www.olemissdcp.com/spb .