Sweltering temperatures didn’t stop the community from rallying around new members of the Triton family on Friday. A crowd of student volunteers and residence life staff braved the late-summer heat to welcome new students on Move-In Day, lending a hand to make the transition as smooth as possible.
“I think that’s just a wonderful thing to see,” said Jonathan Lidgus, director of residential life and housing. “Move-In Day is like a major holiday among our staff – it signals the beginning of the school year but also the return of all of this energy to campus.”
Incoming Matt Sullentrup and his parents arrived early in the day to get him settled into Oak Hall, a six-story residence hall housing more than 400 UMSL students this year, including most of the 225 first-time freshmen who are living on campus.
Sullentrup said he chose UMSL because of the well-rounded educational experience it offers – and he expects living on campus to be an important part of that.
“I wanted to make sure I could get as much of the college experience as possible,” said Sullentrup, who also is enrolled in the . “It’s been an overwhelming few days having to meet so many people in a completely new environment, but I’m really happy with my decision to live on campus. I’ve really been enjoying it here so far. Oak Hall is great, and everyone has been really nice and helpful.”
Upperclassmen Briana Robertson (left) and Binta Cisse joined UMSL Chancellor Tom George and a large crew of fellow volunteers and residence life staff members to greet incoming students last week. (Click image to enlarge.)
Nearly 1,000 UMSL students are taking advantage of university-owned housing options this semester – an overall uptick of 6 percent. The figure includes 484 students in Oak Hall, Villa Hall and Villa North Hall; 235 students in Mansion Hill apartments; and about 225 in University Meadows.
Reviewed 2014-09-04