New Students Will Be Welcomed to Campus at Bud Walton Arena Sunday Afternoon

The New Student Welcome will take place at 4 p.m., Aug. 24, in Bud Walton Arena and will be followed by a Burger Bash at 5 p.m. in the Gardens.

The New Student Welcome is the official welcome ceremony for all new students at the University of Arkansas. Students will hear from the chancellor, provost, vice provost of student affairs and ASG president as well as other students in an effort to provide information to new students about they can succeed at the University of Arkansas.

The New Student Welcome continues to grow in size each year and this year up to 3,600 students are expected to attend the ceremony aimed to help them begin their college career.

“During the program students are given insight from upper-class students that have been in there shoes before,” said Quincy Spencer, director of new student and family programs. “In the end we want to make sure that students are clear on what we expect from them as members of the University of Arkansas.”

Each year the University welcomes new students in Bud Walton Arena, the same place where many of them will take part in commencement. Staff in New Student and Family Programs are constantly working to improve the event. Some changes have been made for the upcoming New Student Welcome.

“I think one of the main things students can expect is the high energy,” said Alison Leach, assistant director of parent and family programs. “We have the band, spirit squads and mascots at New Student Welcome to get students excited for their new journey and pumped up for their first day of class.  We’ve implemented the student speakers so the incoming students can hear directly from their peers.  We also implemented a class shirt for each year and a trivia content to increase participation.”

Several on-campus organizations are involved in the New Student Welcome that make this even possible.

“Program sponsors for this year include New Student and Family Program, Parent Partnership, University Housing-Residence Education, Chartwells, Arkansas Alumni Association, University Bookstore, Greek Life and ASG,” Spencer said. “We also use the services of many campus partners including Razorback Athletics, University Relations-Production Services, Facilities Management, Campus Card Office, Razorback Marching Band and Razorback Spirit Squads.”

Event organizers want to foster a sense of community for incoming students during this welcome kick off.

“My hope is that when students leave New Student Welcome, they not only have their officials class of 2018 shirt, but they also know that there is a whole campus community, faculty, staff and administrators who are here to help them be successful and achieve their dreams,” Leach said.  “New Student Welcome and Burger Bash will help them meet new people, calm any first-day fear and get them excited about being a Razorback.”