Student volunteers pitched in to help new residents during Move-in Day, Sunday on the UWindsor campus.Student volunteers pitched in to help new residents during Move-in Day, Sunday on the UWindsor campus.

Many hands make light work for incoming residents

A raft of student volunteers helped welcome new residents to the UWindsor campus Sunday, helping families haul gear into the new homes-away-from-home for more than 800 first-year students.

Varsity athletes, club and society members, and student leaders joined residence staff for Move-in Day, with snacks and music on hand creating what University of Windsor interim president Douglas Kneale called “a great vibe.”

He circulated among the new students and their families, making their welcome a little more special, and was sure to credit the volunteers for carrying clothes, electronics, and personal effects into residence rooms.

“It’s great. The parents don’t have to lift a finger,” said Dr. Kneale. “Let’s face it, Mom and Dad are stressed out enough.”

Michelle Hewick concurred. She said her daughter Josephine received a very nice welcome moving into Alumni Hall.

“There were so many helpers, we were done in less than five minutes,” Hewick said.

Now a resident of Burlington, Hewick earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Windsor and is happy to see her daughter begin studies this week at the Odette School of Business.

“I am 100 per cent comfortable sending her back to my hometown,” she said.

Rafe Siddiqi, a first-year computer science major, said he will have a new experience living in Macdonald Hall, four hours away from his family in Mississauga.

“It will be very different,” he said. “Today everything is looking very smooth; there are a lot of volunteers.”

Fourth-year psychology student Kate Paiten was one of those volunteers, joining her teammates on the Lancer women’s soccer squad to carry luggage and supplies into Cartier Hall.

“Coming down here shows we have school spirit,” she said. “Maybe they will want to get involved more in campus life, or even support us at a game.”

Douglas Kneale (left) and his wife Barb Davis (right) speak with Ragn Royle,
Douglas Kneale (left) and his wife Barb Davis (right) speak with Ragn Royle, who will take up studies in music this week.

Travelling from his home in Whitehorse, Ragn Royle may have come further than any other Canadian to join the UWindsor student body. A double bassist attracted by the sterling reputation of its jazz performance program, he acknowledged that Windsor’s summer weather will take some getting used to.

“It is pretty humid today,” he said. Environment Canada issued a heat warning with humidex values expected to top 40°C.

He was pleased to have the opportunity to discuss this and other issues with Kneale, who stopped by to greet Royle and his grandparents outside Cartier Hall.

“I really appreciate that he’s out here,” Royle said. “He seems like a nice guy, and it shows there’s a human behind the name.”