This year a new event was added to the Welcome Week schedule.
On Wednesday, incoming freshmen and transfer students were able to participate in an activity with their residence halls, a first for Welcome Week activities.
Dr. Eric Gumm, director of the First-Year Program, said time for the residence hall activity was designated after it was requested by Resident Assistants who have been involved with Welcome Week over the past couple of years.
“They love leading their mentor groups, which are their Cornerstone collections of students, but they also said, ‘We’d love to have an intentional way to do an activity with the students who actually live in our hall too,'” Gumm said.
He noted that several recommendations over the past few months led to a conversation with Residence Life, who were in favor of the idea. The activities took place at 1 p.m. on Wednesday and Gumm said he received positive feedback about the event. Â There were a variety of activities available which allowed each hall to get to know each other and their R.A. on a more personal level.
Stacy Acton, an elementary education major from Boulder, CO, is an R.A. in Sikes and served as a Mentor Group leader. Â Acton said the activity with the residence halls provided students with the chance to meet the people on their hall before classes started.
“I like that they fit that into Welcome Week because, before you were living with these people for a week, and then you’d have a hall meeting,” Acton said.
Gumm also said changes were made to the Talent Show and the Fun Run. The Talent Show was moved to the Abilene Civic Center and the Fun Run was “tweaked” to provide an opportunity to support charity.
“Instead of just running for yourself and running for fun, it’s an opportunity,” Gumm said. “Every person who runs gets a ticket to vote for a charity that they want to support. There’s a container for the Red Thread Movement, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Student Academic Advisory Committee and the Anabel Reid Run for Water foundation. Whichever of those charities gets the most tickets, we’ll make a donation based on the number of people who run.”
