Welcome Home, Wildcats

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 22, 2013) — For weeks now, the traffic — both vehicular and pedestrian — around the University of Kentucky has been gradually increasing. This weekend, it will burgeon to tens of thousands as the campus overflows with students, their families, faculty and staff preparing for the first days of the 2013-2014 academic year.

Friday and Saturday, nearly 3,000 new students will join the 2,000-plus who have already taken up residence in the halls on campus. Thousands more upperclassmen are settling into apartments and houses surrounding campus as Lexington’s population mushrooms virtually overnight by nearly 30,000 new and returning students.

Many of them will be welcomed Friday morning by UK President Eli Capilouto, his wife Dr. Mary Lynne Capilouto and the UK Marching Band at the Kirwan-Blanding Residence Hall Complex Mall. Hundreds of volunteers — students, staff, faculty and members of the Lexington community — will be at the complex and other residence halls to help unload their cars, vans and pick-up trucks.

This joyous and helpful greeting, called Move-in Day, has become a treasured tradition for the campus and Lexington community. Before the moving experience is over, more than 100 of the university’s employees and more than 300 additional volunteers will:

·        Give away 40,000 bottles of water;

·        Answer untold thousands of questions;

·        Serve more than 8,000 hot dogs;

·        Staff eight information/cart distribution areas;

·        Track the whereabouts of 420 carts;

·        Set up and eventually break down 441 tables, 239 traffic cones, 42 barricades, 23 tents and 133 signs; and

·        Recycle 20,000 pounds of cardboard boxes.

“Our top priority is fostering student success at all levels in everything that we do,” said President Capilouto. “Creating that environment starts from the moment students and their families arrive on campus. The entire campus is invested in the success of our students -- from first-year students to graduate students engaged in doctoral studies. After all, our students are why we are here.”

After unpacking, students and families will participate in hundreds of K Week events and activities. Coordinated by the Office of New Student & Parent Programs in the Division of Student Affairs, K Week is UK's fall welcome week for freshmen and transfer students. It runs Aug. 23-31.

“K Week is the first experience many first-year students have with the university,” said Capilouto. “This fall welcome week is one of UK’s most exciting times of the year with events and activities scheduled from early morning to late night, but it also is a critical point at which to help students begin to understand the rigors of their studies while also helping them acclimate to a new life away from home.”

An informal Parent and Families Reception, scheduled 7-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, enables families of new students to meet faculty, staff, administrators, veteran UK students and UK Parent Advisory Council members.  Faculty and administrators participate in the New Student Induction Ceremony from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. This opening convocation closely mirrors Commencement and establishes a tone of academic excellence for new students. Freshmen can officially join the Big Blue Nation Saturday at 6:30 p.m. with the Big Blue U’s march into Commonwealth Stadium where they will learn UK cheers and songs, hear from UK coaches, and get a class photo taken on the football field. On Monday, new Wildcats will be introduced to the value the university places on community involvement as they participate in the state’s single largest volunteer service event, UK FUSION.

There are hundreds of K Week events; some focusing on topics such as parking regulations, graduating in four years, money and credit management, tips to a successful classroom experience, navigating William T. Young Library, and enjoying the diversity of a large university. A complete schedule of events can be found at http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/KWeek/pdf/KWSchedule.pdf. A mobile app is also available for students’ convenience.

For a video sampling of K Week activities in recent years, visit http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0vC9-Q8LFcyp3AwXShYrsp3tO5sbPQe1

Welcome home, all new and returning UK Wildcats.