The majority of first-year students began their Penn journey on Tuesday, Aug. 18, with the annual Move-In ritual, which runs like clockwork thanks to Move-In volunteers and staff and eases the transition for first-year students leaving the nest and kicking off their lives as undergraduates.
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For a number of incoming first-year students beginning their Penn journey, their first hours on campus are remarkably similar: Parents and family members pull up to the curb in the family car or a rental, and members of the Move-In crew stand at the ready to welcome students with ease and assurance.
At Lauder College House on Tuesday, Aug. 18, under partly cloudy skies and increasing humidity, Move-In carts were filled with packaged bedding, table lamps, metal trash bins, and bursting packing cubes.
With the help of those large, wheeled carts and a quick check-in process at College Houses, the Move-In staff and volunteers aim to make arriving on campus as seamless as possible, especially since many first-year students (and their families) are new to leaving the nest.
Shortly before 11 a.m., members of the Penn Band stopped at Lauder College House, playing to a crowd of Penn staff, new students, parents, and various mascots: The Penn Quaker, Phillie Phanatic, and Franklin the Dog. The tents offered outreach services for tech support, maintenance requests, and soft pretzels. Penn President J. Larry Jameson greeted the crowd and spoke with incoming students and their families.
After dancing with the Penn Band and accompanying the conductor, the Phanatic absconded with a first-year’s large roller suitcase and attempted a getaway. The suitcase was eventually relinquished; the student luckily found it humorous.
Along Locust Walk, in front of Simone Leigh’s Brick House sculpture, a staff member led new students on a guided campus tour. Two PHINS (Peers Helping Integrate New Students) tables dotted the walkway leading to Van Pelt-Dietrich Library. Following the President’s stop at Lauder House, the marching band headed back up Locust Walk to the Quadrangle, Penn’s iconic grouping of College Houses in collegiate gothic style, now fully renovated for the start of the school year.
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A flurry of Move-In carts entered and exited the Quad, loaded with backpacks and suitcases, mini fridges and carpets, shelving, and more lamps. A parent walked by wearing a cello case on their back. At Riepe College House, a family from Scottsdale, Arizona admired the view of the courtyard out the window. Their trip had been delayed 10 hours due to flights the previous day, but spirits were high after finally settling into the student’s new home.
Down the hall, a family described their journey to Riepe: Twenty minutes from 3rd Street in Philadelphia. Outside a dorm room door, four identical bags with meticulous labels affixed to the front described the contents of each in full. It was the parent’s second time bringing a first-year to college, and it showed.
The humidity increased and at noon, the marching band made its way through the Quad. Gray clouds threatened rain for several minutes before some patchy sun broke through. The Move-In carts continued rolling.
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