WCSU greets new students during ‘Welcome Week’

DANBURY, CONN. — Western Connecticut State University welcomes its new students with a week full of orientation activities and ceremonies, beginning Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, on the Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury, and the Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. “Welcome Week” activities include orientation events geared toward helping new students adjust to college life, as well as workshops for parents and relatives.

A highlight of Welcome Week is the “Entering the Gates” ceremony, set to take place at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, on the Midtown campus. A symbolic as well as physical entering of the university starts off the academic year as new students are ushered through the picturesque wrought-iron main gates by alumni, faculty and returning students. New students are asked to wear WCSU “Aspire” T-shirts — to be handed out earlier in the day — for the event, which is followed immediately by the university “Opening Ceremony.”

Residential students will move into their residence halls on the Midtown and Westside campuses on Friday, and parents will have the opportunity to attend workshops to help with the transition of sending their children to college. An alumni “Legacy Photo” will be taken at noon on Friday on the steps of Old Main, where relatives and incoming students can commemorate multiple generations of WCSU attendees.

Area residents are advised to seek alternate routes as traffic on White Street and Lake Ave. Extension will be more congested than usual.

For a complete list of Welcome Week activities, go to www.wcsu.edu/orientation/full-schedule-ww.asp.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.