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5:09 p.m., Sept. 2, 2008----Members of the Class of 2012 and their families and supporters converged on the University of Delaware campus on move-in day, Sunday, Aug. 31, from across the nation and around the world.

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Helping to get the newest members of the UD community settled in and ready for the start of the 2008-08 academic year were hundreds of Arrival Survival volunteers, including UD students, faculty and staff.

“We just got here ourselves,” volunteer Bobby Lembo, a biological sciences major from Stony Brook, N.Y., said. Lembo joined the Arrival Survival volunteer team with fellow sophomore Michele Healy, a nursing major from Trumbell, Conn, “We just wanted to help out, and by volunteering, we get to move in early ourselves,” Lembo said.

Joining their classmates as volunteers while waiting to move into their own room in the Dickinson Complex on UD's West Campus were James Comiskey, an environmental engineering major from Clinton, Conn., and Sagar Vadhar, a biological sciences major from Hockessin.

“We're doing pretty good,” Comiskey said. “It's nice meting people and getting them situated.”

In keeping with UD's sustainability initiative, new arrivals were encouraged to recycle cardboard boxes and plastic foam used in packaging. A team from UD Facilities, led by Michael Loftus, assistant director, positioned large recycling bins in strategic locations to make recycling easy.

Arielle Jennings, an international business major from Montclair, N.J., took a break from several trips to the car on an increasingly warm late-summer morning while waiting to begin the first stage of her academic career at UD. “We just started," she said. "Now, I have to get my keys and things like that.”

Debra Jennings, Arielle's mom, said that the two-hour-plus trip was surprisingly hassle-free, considering recent reports about traffic tie-ups on I-95. “Once we got past Great Adventure, it was fine, and the traffic was pretty light this morning,” she said.

Also making the trip from the Garden State to the First State were Arielle Durrua, a biological sciences major, and her parents Ken and Lisa Durrua.

“The going was pretty good,” Ken Durrau said. “We really didn't hit any traffic until we hit Hillside Road in Newark.”

Lisa Durrua said the move-in at UD was a special experience for her whole family. “This is really great. It's a big day for us and for Arielle.”

Besides getting unpacked and starting her academic career at UD, Arielle Durrua said she was looking forward to get into the swing of things on campus and also catch a Fightin' Blue Hens' football game.

“When I first visited the campus, I liked it even in the rain. They told me I would really like it when the sun came out,” Durrua said. “What also helped to make my mind up about UD was the chance to sit in on a class and talk to one of the professors.”

Move-in day for new arrivals was capped by an open house hosted by UD President Patrick Harker, from 1-3:30 p.m., at the President's House.

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photos by Duane Perry