Katie Goodrich | Editor in Chief | kmgoodri@butler.edu

Rain and enthusiastic upperclassmen greeted 1,272 new dawgs

Jaci Bansch walked into Fairview House with mixed emotions as she moved in for her first year at Butler University, along with the rest of her fellow first-years who make up Butler’s largest class ever.

She was pleasantly surprised by all the amenities of the newest residence hall. She was excited to be on campus. She was relieved to get out of the rain.

“Just walking in was a lot,” Bansch said. “I thought it would be so generic. I didn’t ever imagine I would live in a dorm like this.”

Her parents and sisters helped her move her things in and set up her room, before leaving on Sunday to head back to St. Louis. Bansch was going to be late for a meeting, so there was not much time to say goodbye.

“I was sad, but there was no time to think,” she said. “It wasn’t drawn out, but it still felt really weird.”

As the first-years said goodbye to family, they said hello to many upperclassmen, from Trip’s Move in Troop to Student Orientation Guides, or SOGs.

The Move in Troop witnessed the new students hurriedly moving into their new homes, trying not to ruin their belongings in the rain.

Gabi Randall, a senior arts administration and organizational communication major, said helping out was fun, even though the weather was miserable.Covered in a bright blue poncho that was more effective than she thought it would be, she helped roll bins full of dorm room supplies from cars into the buildings.

“I felt so bad for them because they were trying to move TVs and it was pouring,” she said. “But you could tell they were really excited to finally be here.”

Randall described the Irwin parking lot as standing in a river.

“My shoes were literally flooded,” she said. “Thankfully, they’re Sperry’s and have seen worse. There wasn’t a thunderstorm or anything, so that was good for them.”

Bansch said she missed most of it, since the brunt of the rain happened while she waited in line at the Health and Recreation Complex to get her room key.

Once all the parental supervision was gone, the students were in the hands of the SOGs, who are paired with a First Year Seminar class for the duration of Welcome Week.

Sophomores Libbi Adams and Emma Macesich were both thrilled to find out they were going to be SOGs, after having good Welcome Week experiences last year.

“I wanted to be able to do for others what my SOGs had done for me when I was a freshman,” Adams said.

Macesich said the new students seem intelligent, driven and ready to get involved. The Class of 2020 statistics back up her first impression of them. (See Class of 2020 by the numbers for more.)

“They seem ready to be who they really are,” she said. “They were worried about there being cliques like in high school, but that idea was gone very quickly.”

Adams said her group started out skeptical, but quickly jumped into the week full of ice breakers and information.

“They had no idea what was going on, but they opened up,” she said. “They might have been a little scared, but they took those chances and really got into Welcome Week and participated in all of the events.”

Bansch said Playfair was her favorite event, since it was unlike any of the other activities.

“I met so many people in such a short time,” she said. “Everyone is really nice and social. I think we will be a class where everyone knows each other or sees them all the time.”

Even with all the excitement of Welcome Week, Bansch said she is ready and excited for classes to start.

Jaci Bansch is just one of 1,272 new bulldogs running around campus.

The new class comes from far and wide — representing 37 states and five countries, according to a Butler press release. Only 43 percent are Hoosiers, while the number of out-of-state students increased by 28 percent.

Most of the out-of-state growth happened in the south and northeast, two of the areas Butler’s admission team has been focusing on recently.

With almost 300 in the top 10 percent of their class, the average GPA was 3.8

Students have been published in the Los Angeles Times, played Carnegie Hall, started non-profit organizations and more.

Ninety transfer students also joined the bulldogs rank this year.