The University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ welcomed more than 700 new students to the campus at its annual on September 22. Usually held on the first day of fall semester, the one-stop resource fair held throughout Campus Center was postponed in August due inclement weather conditions.
“I loved that there was tons of diversity in the programs that were represented. It was great seeing so many students come out, there was something for everyone!” said Kyra Prokuski, an undergraduate student.
This year¡¯s Welina ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹, which means “welcome to ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹,” was scaled down and focused on safely welcoming the students during three sessions to allow for booth participants to rotate in and out. Students were introduced to about 40 student organizations, academic departments, programs and support services on campus, and had opportunities to win various prizes and enter giveaways.
All attendees wore masks, socially distanced and were prepared with their clearance in hand.
“While it is a far cry from our ‘normal’ first day of school event that draws 2,000 attendees, we thought it was a successful, safe event during this transition semester. Students picked up tons of free swag and learned about academic and support programs,” said Lori M. Ideta, UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ vice provost for student success.
“It was great to see students back on campus! The weather was perfect and students were walking away with twinkles in their eyes. It was absolutely amazing!” said Sabrina Fallejo Uganiza, New Student Orientation co-coordinator.
Now in its fifth year, organizers of Welina ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ are hopeful for a bigger (and better) return in 2022 depending on progress with the COVID-19 pandemic.
This event is an example of UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.