Elon’s newest students arrive on campus today. Here’s what they have to look forward to, along with resources to help ensure a smooth transition into life and learning at Elon.
Excitement is building around campus as the newest members of the Elon University family prepare to begin their college careers.
The morning of Friday, Aug. 24, Elon will welcome the largest class in its history, as new students and their families arrive at Elon to mark the beginning of the academic year. The Class of 2022 consists of 1,690 first-year students arriving on campus, with an additional 13 members beginning their Elon careers with a semester in Dublin, Ireland, through the Global Pathfinders program. Another 55 new transfer students will join the Elon community as well.
The Class of 2022 boasts an average SAT score of 1,242, an ACT score of 27 and an average GPA of 3.97. They’ll be arriving from 41 states across the country and from 24 countries around the world, with 7 percent of the incoming class having an international background. The class is made up of 60 percent women and 40 percent men, with 17 percent from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Each brings with them their own personal experiences as they launch their university careers.
Elon offers an intense and exciting introduction to the university and college life for these new undergraduates throughout a busy Fall Orientation Weekend. First order of business — settling into new homes, as hundreds chip in to help these new members of the Elon family cart clothes, refrigerators, works of art, instruments and electronics into residential communities across campus. The campus will come alive as these new students are joined by family members and scores of faculty, staff and current students eager to help them settle in and start their academic journey at Elon.
“We want to show these new students that we are a community that cares about each other, and everyone contributes to this community,” said Emily Krechel, director of new student and transitions programs. “This is a chance for everyone to work together to help these new students begin to feel at home.”
Click here for a complete list of activities during the weekend and to keep track on your smartphone, be sure to download the Elon University Guides app on Apple or Android, and select “Elon Orientation ’18-’19” once the app launches.
On Friday morning, students and their families will be greeted by teams of Elon students there to help them find their way to their residence halls, unload their vehicles and get them settled in their rooms. Along with 129 Elon orientation leaders, dozens with student groups on campus are chipping in to help Move-In Day run smoothly. Throughout the weekend, staff will be on-hand at the new student orientation headquarters in the Moseley Center to assist.
Krechel said that orientation leaders have a special role in that they can be some of the first upperclass students the members of the Class of 2022 will interact with. Along with playing a significant role during Orientation weekend, these student leaders can also play a role through the time these new students spend at Elon.
“It’s really a relationship that we hope will last beyond orientation, and could grow into more of a mentorship relationship,” Krechel said.
At Move-In, students have staggered move-in times depending upon which floor they will live on, with the top floors in each neighborhood starting first at 8 a.m., with the next phases beginning at 9:30 a.m. and then 10:30 a.m. Students and families can find their proper move-in start times here.
Staggered move-in times helps handle the high volume of students and their families who will be coming to Elon’s campus during move-in day and help reduce congestions, particularly on roads and parking lots around campus, as well as in the residence hall hallways and stairwells.
After beginning to settle in on Friday morning, these new students and their families will begin a series of information sessions that offer a variety of useful insights into navigating the academic and social aspects of college life. Family members can attend workshops on their first day covering topics such as student health and wellness, academic support, student involvement, the university transition and other subject areas.
Students begin a supportive and informative orientation journey by meeting their orientation leaders and small groups, and getting to know fellow students in their neighborhoods.
Orientation weekend doesn’t just play out in classrooms around campus. Students will start getting to know others in their neighborhoods through multiple social and interactive events throughout the weekend. They will flood into Rhodes Stadium on Friday night at 10:30 p.m. for “Friday Night Lights,” a large-scale icebreaker organized by Play Fair, a company that provides an entertainment program that will involve the entire Class of 2022. “It will get them to be silly, to meet new people and to engage with their peers in a way that they can begin making connections,” Krechel said.
New Student Convocation on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 25, will officially launch these new students’ careers at the university, with Elon President Connie Ledoux welcoming students and their families to campus and sharing her thoughts about the experience they are beginning. As they depart from Under the Oaks, new students will receive the traditional gift of an acorn to mark their start at Elon. They then go to meet with their Academic Advisors and Elon 101 groups.
On midday Saturday, members of the Class of 2022 will say goodbye to their families during the Farewell Lunch at locations around campus including the Martin Alumni Center (blue tickets), the West Moseley Lawn (yellow tickets) and the West Koury Athletics Center Lawn (green tickets).
That afternoon, students will participate in the new HealthEU program that centers around making health choices while at Elon. Among the topics that will be addressed are gender-based violence, healthy relationships, consent, and alcohol and substance use and abuse. Saturday night will feature The Koury Kickoff, a late-night event beginning at 9:30 p.m. in the Koury Athletic Center and on Young Commons that will offer a variety of wellness activities for students to participate in.
To close out the weekend on Sunday, students will participate in Phoenix Flops Live, a discussion with campus administrators and students sharing stories about when they have failed, and how they learned to be resilient. That night, students are invited to show off their Phoenix pride during a 9 p.m. pep rally in the new Schar Center followed by the Phoenix Extravaganza from 10 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Fall semester classes begin on Tuesday, Aug. 29. First-year students should also put the Aug. 31 Organization Fair on Young Commons on their calendars. This is an opportunity to learn about Elon’s many student groups and make plans to get further involved in the life of the university.