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Welcome Week programming is designed to connect new students to the Northeastern community and each other.
The week between moving into a Northeastern University residence hall or off-campus apartment and the start of classes is packed with countless activities as part of Welcome Week 2024.
Events are being planned for the Boston, Oakland and London campuses.
On the Boston campus, there’s an arts and crafts festival, a ride on the subway to a neighborhood event, lawn games, fitness events and more.
To welcome students and set them up for success, the university has prepared many events and social activities, says Lisa Commendatore, senior director of orientation and family programs.
“We want students to feel connected to the community and connected to each other,” she says. “Our goal is to make sure that the students are engaged because we believe that an engaged student is a successful student.”
Different activities will be held every day between Aug. 27 and Sept. 1. Since first-year students are moving in over the course of several different days, these activities will run multiple times.
The full programming schedule is available on the Northeastern Orientation app.
The festival will take place from 2 and 5 p.m. on Sept. 2 on Centennial Common.
The class of 2024 will paint a mural that will adorn the campus for a week, Commendatore says, and students can also get their picture taken with it.
At a tie-dye party, students will tie-dye Northeastern-branded T-shirts and socks.
During the “make a rock, take a rock” activity, students will make kindness rocks with words of encouragement or some drawings special to them. Afterward, each student will be able to take a rock they like out of several hundreds.
A Husky jewelry-making tent will have supplies of Husky brand charms and beads in the university’s official colors to make jewelry out of.
There will also be photo opportunities and giant lawn games on Centennial Common.
At 8 p.m. students can watch “Inside Out 2” in Blackman Auditorium, followed by a silent LED-lit dance party with glow giveaways on the Centennial Common from 9:30 until 11 p.m.
This activity aims to help students learn how to use Boston’s subway system — referred to by locals simply as “the T.”
Orientation leaders will take first-year students to different neighborhoods using the subway on Sept. 4 and Sept.5 at 6p.m. This trip might take students to Chinatown for a boba tea or the North End to get Italian cannoli pastries from Mike’s Pastry bakery.
The university will provide each student with a CharlieCard, a reusable plastic card that can be used to pay for bus and subway fares.
Students can also visit the Esplanade, Faneuil Hall, the Boston Public Library or Museum of Fine Arts as part of Best of Boston series between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 (please, check times on the app).
Other activities are focused on helping new students familiarize themselves with the campus and explore Northeastern facilities, including morning yoga on Centennial Common, free fitness classes at Marino Center, trivia and craft and game nights.
For example, current students will host new students for meal meetups every lunch and dinner at the dining halls. Some days they might be organized by college. Students will first gather for an icebreaker and then walk over together to the dining hall. After dinner the group might go get ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery.
Each meal is usually attended by 75 to 100 students.
The signature Welcome Week programming will begin on Labor Day, Sept. 2.
At 11 a.m. on Sept. 3, President Joseph E. Aoun will welcome incoming students to Northeastern during convocation in Matthews Arena.
Directly following convocation, the Center for Student Involvement will host the Fall Fest throughout the campus from noon until 4 p.m., with various student clubs and organizations showcasing what they are all about.
Fall Fest is also a perfect occasion to see how the big Northeastern community comes together to make new students feel welcome.
Before classes start on Sept. 4, first-year students will be introduced to campus by 22 orientation leaders, including Owen Dudley, a second-year mechanical engineering student and a member of the track team.
Dudley says he became an orientation leader because he wanted to make sure helped first-year students transition to college.
“I want to let them know that the Northeastern community is super caring and loving,” he says.