Campus Adjusts to a Smaller Incoming Class

Sarah Baranes|September 1, 2011

Campus Adjusts to a Smaller Incoming Class

 765 new students arrived at Colgate on Thursday to meet a team of faculty and students pre­pared to move hundreds of mini-fridges and laundry baskets into first-year dorms. With 100 fewer students than there are in the Class of 2014, the new first-years faced slightly different options entering this fall.

According to Director of the Office of Residential Life Brenda Ice, “The Office of Residential Life did adjust some of our hous­ing options to meet the needs of the Class of 2014,” such as converting 110 Broad Street to a sophomore housing option.

To create even more space, last year Residential Life also converted the fifth floor suites in Curtis to first-year housing to ac­commodate the larger class. Last spring, however, Residential Life offered fifth-floor Curtis suites as an option for sophomore housing as it has been in past years. They planned for a smaller incom­ing class in the fall of 2011. As for adjusting to fewer numbers during orientation and move-in, few changes were felt as the Office of Residential Life, Build­ings & Grounds, Campus Safety, the Office of Admission and the Dean’s Office worked together to settle the Class of 2015 and quickly integrate them into the Colgate community.

Commenting on the success of this year’s move-in efforts, Ice stated that “the student staff of Residential Life did a fantastic job of making this year’s move-in a great one for the Class of 2015, even with the unruly weather conditions.”

Faculty and staff carried out orientation seamlessly, and a lunch was hosted on the first-year quad for new students and their families.

“Move-in day is a very fun day for the Admission Office because we finally get to meet the students who we admitted,” Assistant Dean of Ad­mission Lisa Belgam said.

Although smaller than last year’s class, the Class of 2015 matched their enthusiasm for Colgate with an impressive turnout at the Col­gate-Syracuse soccer game Saturday night. As classes start and students adjust to their daily schedules, the Class of 2015 will find their footing on the Colgate campus.