Georgia Tech Welcomes Freshmen Class

Thousands of students awoke the campus from its summer slumber Thursday as they arrived to start careers as Yellow Jackets.

Thursday marked the first official open day of fall campus housing for freshmen, which meant students began converging on campus with parents, futons and minifridges in tow. Heavier traffic and congested paths and roadways will likely result and continue into Friday.

Move-in activities will progress throughout the weekend, with upperclassmen and graduate students arriving Saturday and Sunday.

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For Class of 2016, Service Starts Before Classes

Prior to taking their first classes as Tech students, many members of the incoming freshman class will already have begun to live the Institute’s motto of “progress and service.” 

The Office of Leadership and Civic Engagement (formerly the Office of Student Involvement and Office of Community Service), working with the Office of New Student and Sophomore Programs, organized Community Connections 2012 to give freshmen the opportunity to start serving the community as soon as they arrive on campus for orientation. 

New students and their families who attended FASET sessions throughout the summer have already donated nearly 1,000 items and hundreds of dollars. The donations of travel-sized toiletries, laundry supplies and school supplies will be organized into kits for residents of the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children (ADS) during a culminating event on Friday, Aug. 17.

ADS is located at 655 Ethel St. on the westside near campus. It's mission is to ease the burden of homelessness for women and children and assist them in becoming self-sufficient. The shelter has served as a daytime resource center for homeless women and children in the area since 1984.

All current students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in the organizing event, which will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom. Those interested in helping may RSVP online. 

A full list of items requested by ADS is available online. Collection bins are located in the Office of Leadership and Civic Engagement (Room 2211 of the Student Center Commons) and the Office of New Student and Sophomore Programs (Room 141, Student Services Building). Monetary donations are also accepted and will be used to purchase requested items.

Other Campus Activity This Week

As students move in, filming for “The Internship” continues in the center of campus and will wrap up at the end of the week. Filming may affect regular activities in and around the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, Ford Environmental Science and Technology building and Klaus Advanced Computing Building; please be mindful as you visit these areas that it may not be business as usual for a few more days.

The Greek sector will resume activity this week, as sororities began recruitment on Thursday and will offer bids to new members a week later on Thursday, Aug. 23. Fraternities will also welcome new members during fall rush from Aug. 16–23.

Campus services will begin to resume regular operations for the academic year over the course of the week, with all dining locations reopening by Aug. 20. Visit campusservices.gatech.edu for a full schedule of opening days and hours.

- The Georgia Institute of Technology contributed to this report