by G. Corey Farris
It’s an exciting time as West Virginia University welcomes all students to campus for the first time since fall 2019.
While this time of year always brings a lot of energy and excitement, this year is unique in that we have freshmen and many sophomores arriving on campus for the first time. We expect a few challenges as an estimated 9,500 students will arrive in Morgantown for the first time. We have plans in place to make the experience as seamless as possible for them — and for our neighboring community as well.
Most students will move into the residence halls Thursday, Aug. 12, through Saturday, Aug. 14.
We continue to monitor COVID-19 pandemic conditions and have established safety measures for students, faculty and staff, including masking requirements, reporting vaccination status, contact tracing and quarantine/isolation.
Some Welcome Week events will return this year, and will begin Thursday, Aug. 12, and continue through Friday, Aug. 20.
As part of the Welcome Week experience, students will be completing service projects around campus and in the Morgantown community. Be sure to say hello if you see them in your neighborhoods.
Sunday night, students will enjoy Mountaineer MovieFest and a Student Organization Fair at the WVU Coliseum. Sunday Night Lights, new this year, will give sophomores the chance to step onto Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium for an official class photo since their event last year was canceled due to pandemic concerns.
On Monday night, new students will be at Milan Puskar Stadium for Monday Night Lights.
Tuesday night brings the Student Rec Center’s 20th anniversary celebration and the WVU Refresh FoodFest. The location for these activities will be the Student Rec Center and Outdoor Recreation Fields on the Evansdale area of campus.
New events this year are two Back-to-School Job Fairs where students can find a part-time job with an on-campus unit.
See the full schedule of Welcome Week events at welcomeweek.wvu.edu.
We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we start a new academic year. While students are eager to return, we know some are apprehensive and worried about the uncertainties ahead. If you know a student, you can help us by encouraging them to ask for help when they are stressed or struggling. There are on-campus resources available to them, including our Carruth Center with trained professionals who will assist in crisis (and non-crisis) situations.
As classes begin at WVU and our local K-12 schools, traffic and the number of pedestrians increase considerably. We ask motorists in the greater Morgantown community to be extra cautious when approaching crosswalks and high-foot-traffic areas. And we encourage our students to be mindful when walking and know that we all play a part in keeping them safe.
Let’s Go!
G. Corey Farris is the dean of students at West Virginia University.
