Welcome Week is full of fun

Baruch students can expect to ease the transition back-to-school this semester with Welcome Week, a series of events sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Government and the Office of Student Life.

Composed of nine unique events, Welcome Week is geared towards keeping up the momentum of summer fun along with integrating new and continuing students into the campus environment.

"The objective of Welcome Week is to start the year off with a bang," said USG President Ben Guttmann. "We hope to give a great first impression of Baruch to new students and reignite the school spirit of returning students".

The festivities of Welcome Week began on Wednesday with a Freshman Block Party held on 25th Street. Baruch students were treated to free barbeque, cotton candy, and carnival games while listening to music from WBMB and student organizations welcomed incoming students with information and entertainment in an effort to recruit potential members.

A large number of freshmen were able to become familiar with the social atmosphere that Baruch has to offer.

"At first I thought it was just a commuter school but now I see that Baruch has a tight knot community," said freshman Cynthia Roldan.

Other freshmen were more than refreshed by the diversity of the student population.

"I came from a high school that had only 24 seniors and it's great to see a lot of new faces", said freshman, Shirley Fouda who attended the French American School of New York.

To kick off the first day of the fall semester, USG brought energy to the 2nd floor lobby of the Newman Vertical Campus on Thursday, greeting students with free popcorn, cotton candy, CDs and other items.

"USG is going to be out there and show students who represents them," said senator Robert Smith.

Friday followed with a Sophomore Reorientation, a first-of-its-kind event aimed to re-accommodate sophomores to Baruch as well as re-focus their career and academic paths. The all-day campus event included academic advisement, career counseling, a club fair, along with a Double Dare-themed obstacle course game.

The festivities will continue this week, with a dinner in the Multipurpose Room on Monday to kick of the USG-sponsored Voter Registration Contest. The contest, which is geared toward enhancing voting behavior among students as well as competition among student clubs, involves organizations competing to obtain the most voter registrations from students. The winning clubs will be rewarded with USG co-sponsorships.

To extend the mission of connecting students within a diverse social population, USG has also created the BaruchConnect.com website, which functions as a ‘virtual campus' for students while providing information on events, club life, student government, and other campus resources. The launch is scheduled for Tuesday during club hours.

Following the launch, USG will host an open house as a means of "enhancing transparency" between student government and constituents.

"It's a time where students can come talk to us and listen to what we can help them out with", said Antonio Alfonso, member of the Student Senate Board. "We want to show students how we get things done and that we have faith in the students' interests."

To pump up the energy, USG will host a giveaway event on Wednesday handing out and raffling off an array of items including Baruch paraphernalia and Apple iPads.

Welcome Week will end with a bang on Sept. 2 with an ice cream giveaway followed by the Las Vegas party at night featuring casino games, free food, an Elvis impersonator and a game of Music Mayhem in the Multipurpose Room.

"This party will be much more than just a DJ and some beer, and is an example of how we want to hold parties all year long," said Guttmann.