MACON – Mercer University will begin its 183rd academic year by welcoming a record-breaking freshman class of more than 840 students, many of whom will move into their dorms on the Macon campus this Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m.
These freshmen, along with over 100 transfer students, will join Mercer's largest and most talented undergraduate student body in the University's history.
First-year students arriving on Mercer's campus for the start of the fall semester will be greeted by the Mercer Movers, a group of upperclassmen, faculty and staff, who each year help unload and carry new students' belongings into their residence hall rooms.
Due to construction on campus, traffic flow and the assistance of volunteers, first-year students are asked to move to campus during the following assigned time frames on Saturday:
8 a.m.-11 a.m., Plunkett Hall (even room numbers), Porter Hall, Boone Hall, Roberts Hall
11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Plunkett Hall (odd room numbers), Dowell Hall, Sherwood Hall
Move-in will kick off Opening Day for the new students. Following lunch, 11-2 p.m., and refreshments with Mercer mascot Toby, 1-3:15 p.m., a welcome ceremony will be held in the University Center's Hawkins Arena, 3:30-4 p.m., where President William D. Underwood will address the new students and their families.
The Bear Beginnings orientation schedule gets underway at 7 p.m. with check-in on Cruz Plaza and will continue through Monday morning.
The University's annual Fall Convocation, the traditional start of the academic year, will take place Monday, Aug. 17, at 2 p.m., in Willingham Hall. Classes begin on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
For more on Opening Day and the Bear Beginnings orientation schedule, click here.
