CSU freshmen hit the dorms | Education | Summerville Journal Scene

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CSU freshmen hit the dorms

Published Thursday, August 21, 2008 8:13 PM

By Stefan Rogenmoser
Summerville Journal Scene ®

In a time when most campuses are dominated by iPods, Bluetooths, cellular telephones—things that often make life less personal—the community’s involvement in Charleston Southern University’s (CSU) freshmen move-in day on Aug. 15 almost seemed old-fashioned.

Local businesses, litanies of churches, football players, campus ambassadors, school band members and more volunteered to help the impressionable freshmen move in.

Summerville’s Chick-fil-A handed out 200 sandwiches, according to marketing director Erin Elko. Churches and other businesses—many under outdoor tents—handed out hundreds of ice cream bars, water bottles, Blow Pops, orange sodas, hamburgers and hot dogs. Music blared out of guitar amplifiers near both male and female dorms and in front of the quad.

Around 9 a.m., many sport utility vehicles arrived on campus in long, shining lines and slowed to a crawl as security directed them toward the dormitories. When the parking lots were filled, automobiles crawled onto the grass behind the Women’s South dorm.

Freshmen, parents and volunteers unloaded several small TVs and refrigerators, hangers overloaded with light and heavy clothes and plastic boxes filled with everything imaginable. Proud parents were glad to participate. Belongings were carried or piled onto handcarts and rolled across the sidewalks and into residence halls.

Freshmen unlocked their dorm rooms and walked into the discovery awaiting them. A new life of independence was about to greet them with a warm smile and they were in a hurry to get somewhere, meet new friends and unpack.

Nora Harris, who plays in the school band, and Michelle Dennis, who plays on the school’s soccer team, are two sophomores who helped freshmen move in.

“I like the tight-knit community; I like that you know your professors here,” Harris says.

Courtney Smith, of Columbia, S.C., and Porcha Bailey, of Eastover, S.C., are two freshmen who will live on the same floor of Women’s South building.

Bailey explains why she chose CSU: “I wanted to play softball.”

Smith adds, “I’ve heard they have a really good nursing program…I like doing sports…I hope it’s not stressful.”

Hope Mills and Sarah Blum, both of Yorktown, Va., are a pair of freshmen who’ll reside in the Russell East dorm.

“We were at a college fair. It was the inflatable palm tree that attracted us, and the Christian background,” Mills says, explaining how she and Blum discovered CSU. Mills is a Political Science major and Blum is an Education major.

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