Boxes, bins, handcarts and a feeling of freedom signaled move-in, the annual rite of passage for students on college campuses.
Early move-in started Aug. 13 at East Carolina University but most students will arrive Aug. 14-17. Classes start Aug. 19.
FAST FACTS
More than 5,700 students are expected to move in to residence halls at ECU.
Of those, about 4,270 freshmen will be moving to campus. About 200 transfer students and 1,300 returning students also are expected to live on campus.
Approximately 450 volunteers will help during the move-in period.
The 5,700 students moving in at ECU are among approximately 28,400 who are returning to campus when the semester begins on Monday.
Living and learning
ECU will have 19 Living Learning Communities or LLCs this fall. The communities were created to provide students with the opportunity to transition to a large university in smaller, more personal groups.
Twelve LLCs are housed in Gateway Hall on College Hill. The other LLCs are in Jarvis, Garrett and Umstead residence halls.
#ECU23 MOVES IN
ECU freshmen and first-year students are required to live on campus for at least two semesters.
ECU enacted the freshman residency requirement in fall 2012. Exemptions include: students who are 21 before the first day of classes; U.S. military veterans; married students; students with dependent children living with them; or students who commute to school from the permanent legal residence of their parents within a 35-mile radius of campus.
It's a great school. I know a lot of people already, and I'm looking forward to being here."
-Joshua Martinez of Raleigh
Martinez intends to study mechanical engineering. His great-aunt, Lila Love of Hampton, Virginia, said the day was bittersweet.
I've watched him from a child to maturity. It makes me feel good to know he will pursue his career and dreams. It's a great day."
-Lila Love, Martinez' great-aunt
I just want him to get adjusted and find himself here. It's going to be a change for all of us."
-Terri McMullen of her son, Jason, who will be a freshman at ECU.
The McMullens left Charlotte at 4:30 a.m. to make the hours long drive to Greene Residence Hall. Jason's younger sister, Jaylan, 16, said she will miss her brother because they do everything together.
"I hope he uses his full potential to get where he wants to be."
Skylar Paschke of Gastonia was at work the day she and her roommate were to choose their residence hall. Her roommate picked Greene.
“Then she told me it was going to be the newest dorm, so I was super-excited."
-Skylar Paschke, intended nursing major
GREENE HALL
Greene Residence Hall is reopening this fall after a 16-month, $24 million renovation project. The hall has new public spaces including two main entrances with patios, new bathrooms and elevators. Previously an all-female hall, Greene is now co-ed and will house 388 students.
Greene is the last of three residence halls in the West End neighborhood that have been renovated. The total cost to retrofit Greene, White and Clement residence halls was more than $71 million.
We're excited to have Greene Residence Hall open for students. It's going to be a great place for students to live."
-Dan Gerlach, interim ECU chancellor
We wanted our beds new, our floor new, our bathroom new – everything new."
-Grace Warren of Winston-Salem
Grace Warren, a third-generation ECU student from Winston-Salem who chose Greene Residence Hall with her roommate, Grace Roberts, met through ECU's Facebook page.
Grace Warren's grandfather, Don Warren, graduated in 1969. Grace's parents, Donnie and Jennifer Warren, are ECU graduates. They met downtown on Halloween night. Donnie Warren said the renovated Greene surpasses Garrett Hall, which didn't have air conditioning when he lived there.
"The new mattresses made me happier than anything else so far today," said Jennifer Warren. "And new AC!" added Grace. Both mother and daughter were pleased with the renovated residence hall, but Grace said the room doesn't feel like home quite yet. "Once I get my pillows and blankets set up it will be great," she said.
Her roommate, Grace Roberts, is looking ahead to the future and is ready for classes to begin. She plans to major in psychology and pursue a master's degree in occupational therapy at ECU.
"I just want to make a difference, you know, and with that career you get that one-on-one interaction."
-Grace Roberts of Wake Forest
RESHAPING CAMPUS
Students have been exceedingly pleased with the improvements to campus. ... This has been a decade of change for campus living and ECU."
-Bill McCartney, associate vice chancellor for campus living
$190 million has been spent on building and renovating residence halls and dining facilities over the last 10 years.
This aggressive approach to rebuilding the universities’ housing facilities has been essential because many of the current residence halls were built during the late 1950s into the mid 1960s and these aging buildings were 50-plus years old. In order to maintain this crucial university resource, it was essential to modernize these aging buildings to meet the needs of today’s students.”
MAIN CAMPUS STUDENT CENTER
Among recent improvements to campus, the Main Campus Student Center, a 220,000-square-foot facility, opened in January of this year.
Years in the making, the building pairs cutting-edge technology with time-honored Pirate roots such as the ECU creed on the main staircase and the outline of eastern North Carolina on the floor of the main ballroom, a nod to our home state with an X marking the spot for Greenville, of course.
Out front, lofty ‘ECU’ letters make a bold statement, welcoming Pirates and visitors to the new front porch and living room of the university.
This freshmen class is the first to come into a fall semester with the center open.
Students will be welcomed to Pirate Nation with a variety of events, many of which will be held in the new Main Campus Student Center for the first time.
Credits:
Photos by Cliff Hollis and Rhett Butler | Videos by Reed Wolfley and Rich Klindworth | Text by Crystal Baity and ECU News Services