Today the University of Dallas community welcomed the Class of 2023 during Fall Move-In Day. With the help of student volunteers, faculty and staff, more than 430 new students officially began college life at their new home in Irving. 

While moving a semester’s worth of belongings might sound like onerous work (especially in the Texas heat), Move-In Day is usually remembered as one of the most lively and exciting events of freshman orientation week. Many mini-fridges were moved and memories made today as representatives from the entire UD community — from student orientation leaders to faculty, staff and even President Hibbs himself — participated in welcoming its newest members.

“Move-In is an exciting day for everyone in the University of Dallas community,” said Dean of Students Julia Carrano, J.D., BA '02. “We have so many people — faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, student leaders — who gather together to help welcome our new students and their families. We all strive to ensure that from the first day, these students feel at home on our campus, meet wonderful friends and begin to put their own unique stamp on the UD experience.” 

“We have 68 students total, consisting of sophomores, juniors and seniors, who have volunteered their time and energy to welcome the Class of 2023,” said Orientation Coordinator Christine Newman, BA ’20. “Many faculty members, professors and trustees alike have also volunteered. For some faculty, such as Dr. John Norris, helping with Move-In Day is a tradition. Dr. Norris volunteers every year and always requests to help at Madonna Hall, where he lived as a freshman.” 

For the past few weeks of summer vacation, Newman has planned the logistics of orientation and Move-In Day alongside the Student Affairs staff and three other student orientation coordinators: Samuel Chiodo, BA ’21, Katrine Christensen, BA ’20, and Gretel Lim, BA ’20. Together they came up with a theme for this year’s freshman orientation: “Rooted.” 

“We are a rooted community,” said Director of Student Affairs Seth Oldham. “We have roots in the Core, in our Catholic faith, in our traditions and in our dedication to the pursuit of wisdom, of truth and of virtue as the proper and primary ends of education. However, in the eyes of college students, roots can be antithetical to emerging adults. They are frequently told by our culture to experience as much of life as possible before settling down, whenever that happens to be. At the University of Dallas, we believe differently. We know that having roots is an important part of life. Our roots feed us, help us remain grounded when life comes our way and help us make meaning of our lives.” 

“One of our goals for orientation is for students to start planting their own roots at UD,” continued Oldham. “They accomplish this by beginning to participate in the rich life of our community. Students will join clubs, finalize their class schedules, establish relationships in the residence halls and meet their faculty advisers. Finally, we want students to learn about the various resources we have on campus. One thing that is special about UD is our community of care. Be it the Office of Student Affairs, the Counseling Center, Campus Ministry, the Academic Success Office, or the Office of Personal and Career Development, we are here for students, and we want them to know that.” 

The Class of 2023 represents 39 states, 245 cities and four countries. 18% are first-generation college students, and another 17% are multilingual students. The class as a whole boasts an average SAT score of 1269 and average GPA of 3.83. 83% identify as Catholic, and 46% come from outside of Texas. 

Undergraduate classes for the 2019-2020 academic year begin on Wednesday, Aug. 28.