Last week, the University of Richmond's summertime tranquility came to an end as campus was invaded by new international students, transfer students, 765 freshman, and their parents, friends and siblings.
New students visited the University Post Office to collect their keys, picked up their student IDs and bought Richmond swag in the bookstore before the first day of orientation began with the President's Welcome in the Robins Center.
Many upperclassmen and faculty members offered the gathered students advice as they started this new chapter in their lives.
"We are what we say we are," said Steve Bisese, vice president for student development, "and you will find this experience better than you ever hoped."
President Edward Ayers told the audience that this first day of orientation was one of his favorite days of the year. When he looked out at the students in the audience, they represented to him more than 33,000 decisions, he said.
The staff in the admissions office received 10,232 applications and accepted about 3,000 students who each applied to on average 11 colleges, he said.
"I'm trying to make you feel guilty," he said. "A lot of other people would love to sit in those seats."
He said each student could have gone somewhere easier.
"You chose to come to a place in which everyday when you come into class they are going to ask you what you think," Ayers said.
He commended the students for their outstanding achievements that had led to their acceptance at the university, including: national chess, math and physics champions, four black belts, 17-state champion athletes and one pilot.
President Ayers and seniors Jenny Jarboe, Westhampton College orientation chair, and Joey Greener, Richmond College orientation chair, had a similar request for students: to live every day of their college experience to the fullest. Jarboe told students, "Don't count the days; make the days count."
Greener encouraged students to get involved on campus.
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President of the Alumni Association Sam Kaufman jokingly reminded students not to wear Virginia Commonwealth University t-shirts during basketball season or William & Mary t-shirts during football season, a request that the upperclassmen seated on the floor supported by booing both universities.
Taylor Michals, WCGA president, and Evan Harris, RCSGA president, also welcomed students to campus and shared that they had been in the same orientation group. They spoke about how the decisions a student made during orientation would stay with that student throughout his or her college career. Michals said Harris still gets called "Easy Evan," the name he had chosen for an ice-breaker activity during orientation.
The night closed with deans Juliette Landphair and Joe Boehman inviting students to say goodbye to their parents and break off into their orientation groups.
Freshmen bonded throughout the next few days by watching presentations, hearing from on-campus organizations and participating in ice-breaker activities with classmates.
After the presentations, orientation groups were given the opportunity to meet and discuss the topics and ideas brought up by the speakers. Freshman Olivia Dulmage said that getting together with her group after the "Toto, We're Not in Kansas Anymore" presentation, which focused on the differences of campus life, was her favorite part of orientation.
Freshmen Rayna Mohrmann and Sarah Ramirez were placed in the same orientation group, and both said the part of orientation they had most enjoyed was the relationship they built with their upperclassmen orientation advisers.
"I think with stuff like that it can seem like they are being told to be your friends," Ramirez said, "but they actually really seemed like they cared about us."
Students were also treated to performances from clubs including the a capella groups' performances on the Westhampton Green.
Freshman Dan Waddell said, "I stayed for the whole thing, and I wanted to hear more."
In one of orientation's final components, students returned to the Robins Center where President Ayers addressed the freshmen before they took a class photograph. Ayers led the students across campus to the Alumni Center where he hosted his annual picnic for the new students. He also invited them to his home to play yard games when they finished eating.
Students ceremoniously signed their Class of 2016 banner, which will be displayed in the Tyler Haynes Commons until their graduation, a symbol of their place in the University of Richmond community.
Contact staff writer Maria Rajtik at maria.rajtik@richmond.edu
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