ST. LOUIS — Saint Louis University student leaders cheering and dancing could be heard and seen throughout a campus parking garage Thursday and Friday as new Billikens from 42 states and 34 countries moved in.
The university has loosened its pandemic rules for the upcoming year, such as no masks, no socially distancing and larger time windows for moving in, according to Maggie Rotermund, senior media specialist for SLU.
However, students are still required to be vaccinated against COVID.
Freshman Banshika Fharma and her family traveled from California to St. Louis. Fharma said her move-in day experience was very welcoming and she enjoyed seeing the excitement from the student leaders.
She is looking forward to meeting everyone and making close connections as she studies neuroscience.
Freshman Ashlyn Vetsch is planning to also study neuroscience and with loosened COVID restrictions, she hopes there will be more in-person events to make face-to-face connections with others.
“I’m excited for all of the fall welcome events and to meet a bunch of new people,” Vetsch said.
“I’m planning on doing some intramural sports like pickleball. I’ll definitely be playing spike ball and just dance.”
A group of 180 diverse student leaders called “Oriflamme” helped new students and their families unload cars and put items in rolling carts to be brought to their dorms and living spaces.
They also cheered on the newcomers and broke out in dance circles to hype up and entertain everyone. Tables were lined up along with volunteers providing freshmen with badges, keys and information they need for the upcoming year.
Thursday and Friday were senior Josh Parney’s first time helping freshmen move in. With COVID restrictions loosened, he is looking forward to being involved in SLU’s community again before graduating in May.
“My full real SLU experience hasn’t been since freshman year, so I’m really looking to just getting back into the SLU community,” he said.