Tears, hugs and eye rolls punctuate move-in day

By Ray Feldmann on August 25, 2016

Of course there were the tears. And the hugs. Even the occasional eye roll combined with a multi-syllabic “Da-ad.” 

It was move-in day at Towson University, the annual rite-of-passage for thousands of new freshmen and transfer students that began before eight o’clock Thursday morning and continued past five in the afternoon. Yes, there were a few glitches. But for the most part, new students and their parents had nothing but praise for the TU staff and more than 250 volunteers who had planned for months to help make move-in a positive experience.

“This was the third move-in experience I’ve been through, and this one is extremely well-organized,” observed Kevin McMahon, whose youngest son Collin was moving into Paca House.  “Everything here is running like a well-oiled machine. I couldn’t be happier.”

“Patience” was the key word of the day for the parents helping  to move their anxious, nervous, and impatient children. Cars were lined up 10 or 11 deep in rows of three on the West Village side of campus, waiting to drive closer to their sons’ and daughters’ respective residence halls.

“You have to remember,” said Joe Oster, the university’s vice president of administration and finance, “at one time the only residence halls we had in West Village were Millennium Hall and  Towson Run. Then we added Paca and Tubman in 2008, and Barton and Douglass in 2011. This year we added Marshall and Carroll. So we have a lot more students living on that side of campus now than we did just a few years ago.”

Closer to York Road, the four aging Glen Towers structures were also bustling with activity Thursday. Dozens of volunteers in multi-colored MIC (Move-In Crew) t-shirts enthusiastically pushed carts filled with students’ belongings, tirelessly answered parents’ questions, and expertly directed the flow of pedestrian traffic toward waiting elevators. The MIC volunteers were assisted by numerous members of the Tigers’ football team, many of whom arrived early to lend a hand.

“I was here by 7:45 this morning,” said Jamal Watson, a freshman cornerback from Charlotte, North Carolina.  “I like helping out, making other freshmen like me feel welcome.  We also talk up the football team a little bit, too, so maybe some of the new students will come to our home games.  I enjoy being out here.”

Watson’s and the other volunteers’ efforts seemed to pay off. Almost without exception, new students talked of feeling “like this is home,” and of “being at a large school that has a small school feel.” 

It was that same “small school feel” that convinced Julie Kearney of Perry Hall, Maryland, to select Towson University.

“I was already familiar with Towson because my older sister and my parents went to school here,” said Kearney, a nursing major. “I really like the campus and how close it is to home. At the same time, by living away from home, I can spread my wings a little bit and start another chapter of my life.  I’m excited and nervous at the same time.”

One person who seemed to be enjoying herself the most on Thursday was President Kim Schatzel, who was experiencing her first move-in day at Towson University. She drove a golf cart from one side of campus to the other and back again. She introduced herself to students and parents waiting in lines, and mingled comfortably with new students, parents, student volunteers and staff. 

“This is phenomenal,” Schatzel said while enjoying some Rita’s Italian Ice with her husband Trevor in front of Tubman House. “I’m thrilled to see all of the volunteers and staff out here helping and making people feel welcome. I talked to one man who told me he’d waited 19 years to see his nephew, Jordan, go to college. He told me he could not have been more pleased with how well-organized the move-in process was and how welcome his nephew’s  RA (resident assistant) made the whole family feel.

“You have to remember,” Schatzel added, “It can be a little intimidating to live away from home for the first time. So the more we can do to ease that anxiety and make a student feel comfortable, the better his or her experience will be.”

Jordan is one of 2,350 freshmen who will be living on campus this fall.  In all, just over 5,200 students will live in 16 university residence halls. Of the 19,096 undergraduates expected to attend TU during the current term, 2,760 are freshmen and another 2,150 are transfers.

Within that freshman group are 11 sets of twins! The incoming class of 2020 comes from 32 states and 26 foreign countries. The average GPA is 3.59 and average SAT score is 1602. More than half of the incoming class had a 3.56 GPA or higher. Freshmen selected 59 different majors, the most popular being business, biology, nursing, psychology, and computer science.

An anticipated graduate enrollment of 3,245 would push TU’s projected total enrollment for fall to 22,341, slightly above last year’s total of 22,284.

Returning resident students are scheduled to move back to campus this weekend, in time for the first day of classes on Monday.