Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013
Rider’s three-day Fall Opening will welcome the Class of 2017 and help prepare them for life as college students.
It’s that time of year again, and Rider is set to welcome the Class of 2017 to its Lawrenceville campus. Some 1,200 freshmen and transfer students will join the Rider community, including those who will move into the University’s residence halls this week, ready to call Rider home.
Bronc Buddies – upperclassmen volunteers from student groups, athletics teams and Greek organizations – will help these first-year students into their assigned residence halls, escort them to opening weekend events, facilitate various activities and serve as liaisons to the students throughout their first few days in the Rider community. It’s all part of Rider’s three-day Fall Opening, designed to help new students familiarize themselves with the Lawrenceville campus and community.
“We created the Fall Opening to help freshmen make the adjustment from high school to college, since everything moves more quickly at this level,” said Ira Mayo, associate dean of Freshmen. “It’s important that students know what to expect and we prepare them to hit the ground running.”
Freshmen will begin moving in on Sunday, September 1, and will also participate in planned activities throughout the day. After their belongings are safely squared away in their residence halls, students will break for lunch at the Student & Family Food Fest at 11 a.m. on the Campus Mall, followed by the Welcome Ceremony, which will officially kick off the students’ journey into higher education.
Later that evening, the freshmen will return to the Campus Mall for the New Student Dinner with President Mordechai Rozanski at 5 p.m. Later, students can attend the Playfair!, a networking opportunity for residential and commuter freshmen held in the Cavalla Room, inside the Bart Luedeke Center. The icebreaking session will enable these first-year student to better know their fellow members of the Class of 2017.
Students will attend the Rider Revue from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., held at various locations around campus. The Rider Revue will provide students a better understanding of on-campus and other events held throughout the year and will conclude the day’s events. Activities continue on Monday and Tuesday, including trips to Wal-Mart and surrounding shops for last-minute supplies, a comedy show, the 17th annual New Student Talent Show in the Yvonne Theater, and the Annual Student Lip Sync at The Playhouse on Rider’s Westminster Choir College campus in Princeton.
For more information regarding the Rider’s Fall Opening activities, contact the New Student Resource Center and Office of Orientation at 609-896-5373.