Weeks before the first new students flooded the campus on August 24, staff and student leaders were hard at work preparing for orientation to help new students understand what Anderson University is all about. The best way they’ve found to help the students understand AU is to remind themselves what AU means to them.
Student leaders from Student Government, Campus Activities Board, Morrison Institute, Intermural sports, International Students Association, Multicultural Students Association, social clubs, Campus Ministries, and others came together from August 18-19 for a Super Retreat where they built on their teamwork and leadership skills. “We try to make ourselves a community before we start on the technical stuff,” said Chad Hacker, director of Intermural sports. The students who lead the new students to discover AU’s culture and standards found they could share with the new students AU’s unique sense of community only after they had experienced it themselves.
The various student programs came together to build momentum as they came into the new school year. Stephanie Landsberger, Student Orientation Coordinator, said, “It’s not just about getting to know your own staff but all of student leadership.” The various student programs serve many different needs of the students, but they ultimately come together as a larger community dedicated to the one goal of serving the students.
The retreat culminated in a prayerwalk on August 22. Students and staff went through main parts of campus and prayed for the new students coming in, continuing a tradition that is over 10 years old. The student center, educational buildings, resident halls, Wellness Center, and other parts of campus were covered in fervent prayers of protection, strength, courage, and growth. Student leaders prayed over each doorway into each building and even over each dorm room. Each student was prayed for before they even arrived.
Integral to the orientation are the Family Groups, an age-old tradition at AU. Each student is designated to a Family Group, which is led by a small group of students called Family Group leaders. These Family Groups attend most of the Orientation meetings together and help new students get to know others in a comfortable setting. The 100 Family Group leaders this year met as early as last spring to begin to prepare to receive the new students. They also spent time during the week before Orientation working on building teamwork and planning their activities with their groups. The leaders put much thought into finding ways to help new students feel welcome—including the tradition of welcome bags full of treats for the new students. Some innovative leaders even put photos of themselves on the bags so the new students would be able to easily remember them.
After weeks of preparation, the big day finally came on August 24: Move-In Day. Over 200 staff and students came out from all over campus to help some 900 new students move in. The Orientation this year featured days full of meetings about what AU stands for and nights full of social opportunities for students to break the ice and get to know new people. On August 26, AU held its second Church Fair, a fairly new event for new students to find a church home in the Anderson community. Another new happening for the Orientation this year was the Comedy Hour, hosted by area Churches of God on August 27.
Although students began classes on August 28, Student Programs continues to help new students find their place at AU. On September 1, at the annual Square Dance, students had a hoe-down in the Smith/Martin courtyard. The highly anticipated Labor Day picnic and Volleyball Tournament will also give new students a welcome to the new school year at AU. The Student Programs staff continues to work diligently each day as the school year kicks off. Landsberger remarked, “Coming from the standpoint of having been through orientation… I didn’t realize how much went into it. It was a great experience.”
