Successful Orientation
The weather outside was frightful. But heavy rains and high winds can't dampen the Notre Dame spirit! Dean of Students Pauline Williamson extends her gratitude to our dedicated faculty and staff, who ensured a great Orientation Weekend.
Dear campus community,
New student orientation for Women’s College students officially ended on Thursday, September 1st, at 8:00 p.m. I would like to extend a heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you who helped make a very challenging move-in and orientation successful. Despite the hurricane, we were able to move most of our residential students into the residence halls on Saturday and then kept them engaged and on-campus throughout the weekend with a continuously evolving orientation schedule. I am happy to report that on Wednesday they were still very excited and ready for classes.
We could not have been successful without the efforts of everyone including our housekeepers, custodians, and maintenance workers who have been working hard, well before students arrived, to make the residence halls and campus ready. Kudos to all of you who were on campus on Saturday to assist with the check-in process, and all the presenters and facilitators whose hands on participation and flexibility throughout the week made it all happen. There are numerous departments and individuals who went above and beyond to make sure that every need of each student was promptly addressed. Thanks to all the volunteers who did everything from collecting bins to giving out water to tired movers to lots of heavy lifting. I appreciate each and every one of you.
I especially want to acknowledge our orientation leaders (OLs). This enthusiastic group of returning student volunteers cut short their summer vacations and summer jobs and volunteered countless hours to help new students get connected to Notre Dame. For those of you who are not familiar with the OL program, interested students had to submit an application and complete an interview. Those selected to become OLs began volunteering during registration days in June and kept in touch with new students over the summer via postcards and social media. They then came back to campus early for additional training and worked move-in day and through Thursday. I have listed their names in the attachment; please thank them when you see them around campus.