URI welcomes students back for the start of fall semester
KINGSTON — The University of Rhode Island buzzed with excitement this past weekend by welcoming more than 3,000 first-year students to the Kingston campus for the start of a new school year.
The annual move-in event, which started on Friday, saw familiar faces like President Marc Parlange, his wife Mary Parlange, Provost Barbara Wolfe, Vice President for Student Affairs Ellen Reynolds, Assistant Vice President for Housing and Residential Life Tom Cooley, URI’S Greek Life members, and hundreds of URI faculty and staff.
With classes set to begin yesterday, the weekend was filled with activities and the anticipation of new beginnings.
URI President Parlange, along with other university officials, faculty, and staff, greeted students and their families as they moved into Hillside Hall, one of URI’S 26 student residential neighborhoods. The event welcomed both new and returning students.
Among the new students was Sam Marchese, an 18-year-old marine biology and animal science major from Westerly.
“I’m feeling pretty good. A little bit nervous about the whole thing, but overall, I’m pretty excited,” Sam said. “I’ve been interested in it [my major] for a really long time. This past year in high school, I took a marine science class, and it got me pretty interested, so I decided to pursue that.”
Sam’s mother, Elizabeth Marchese, also shared her thoughts on this special moment. “Sam is our youngest, so now we have an empty nest,” she said with a mix of pride and emotion. “But he’s close to home, we’re about a half-hour away, so that’s nice. We just told him to be himself, have fun, get involved, and he’s interested in being here, so he feels like part of the URI community.”
For many students, move-in day is a time to meet new roommates and explore their new living spaces. Sam, who had yet to meet his roommates in person last week, said, “I’ve been talking to them online. We’ve called before and stuff.”
The three boys had coordinated who would bring what for the room. “We’re going to be sharing; I’m bringing the TV, and another roommate is bringing the refrigerator,” he added.
Another new student, Natalie Meekings, an 18-year-old nursing major from New Jersey, was equally excited about starting her college life. “My orientation has been amazing. I’ve met so many nice people, and I’m very excited for the year,” she said.
Natalie’s mother, Danielle Guli, shared that they drove four hours to the college from New Jersey.
“Packing her up and cleaning her room were probably the hardest parts,” she continued, “I hope she really enjoys the nursing program and gets everything out of URI. For nursing, she did the Polytech program at our local high school, and she absolutely loved it. So it was a great transition to the nursing school here.”
Like last year, the weekend also saw contributions from returning students, particularly those involved in Greek Life. They helped ensure that the move-in process went smoothly, including loading bins and making sure everything got to the correct room.
Abigail Barnabee, a sophomore nursing major from Long Island, New York, was among the sorority members helping first-year students move in on Friday.
“We’re required to have 40 girls per day per shift to help with move-in,” she explained.
“I hope to make them feel a little bit more comfortable, because it is a really stressful time,” Barnabee said.
“We have an amazing team in Housing and Residential Life, along with many partners from across campus who’ve been working on everything from traffic flow to getting the halls ready for them to move in,” Vice President Reynolds said. “You see students, our athletic teams, Greek Life, and some of our academic programs all here to welcome our new students. We’re excited.”
Reynolds also highlighted the wide range of resources available to help students transition into college life.
“We have an amazing community here to support them,” she said. “Not only do we have our New Student Programs, but the Division of Student Affairs offers a variety of services, including the health center, counseling services, and resident academic mentors. We also have hundreds of activities planned over the weekend to welcome them to both the university and the state of Rhode Island.”
Parlange encouraged the incoming students to build friendships, engage in university life, and discover new passions.
“We expect them to enjoy their studies, but also all their activities whether in clubs, music, sports. We expect them to build new friendships, create community, meet lots of people, and just have a great time discovering themselves,” he said. “I’m sure that many of them will discover things they never thought of doing before whether it’s studying sharks in the ocean, scuba diving, sailing, or pickleball. This will be a good year for them.”
Parlange also stressed the importance of students caring for their mental health and well-being during this critical transition period.
“We know that students who engage in the community do better, whether through our programs, religious organizations, or clubs, lectures, and sporting events,” he said. “We also have a very supportive community. Our faculty and staff are wonderful and really help our students.”
According to a university press release, interest in the state’s flagship research university reached an all-time high this year. URI received a record 26,900 first-year undergraduate applications for the fall 2024 semester, as well as a record number of applications to its graduate programs.
First-year students will join more than 500 transfer students, more than 2,000 graduate students, and thousands of returning URI students, composing a student body of more than 17,000.