This week thousands of students flooded campus for the start of the school year, turning Moscow from a quiet small town to a buzzing college atmosphere.
Many students chose to live on campus, and with the freshman live-on requirement the University of Idaho is filled with new students ready to start their first year as Vandals.
Tony Marcolina | Argonaut
New and current members of Kappa Kappa Gamma pose for their house photo on Tuesday, the final day of sorority recruitment. Fraternity Rush concludes Saturday. More than 600 students participated in formal Greek recruitment this year, and 296 women completed the recruitment process.
Members of the Greek system returned to campus two weeks ago to ready their houses for formal recruitment, which took place this week and concludes tomorrow with the end of Fraternity Rush.
Nearly 100 community members in bright purple shirts hauled boxes up flights of stairs in the residence halls as part of the Vandal Volunteers.
“We want to come out and help serve students and their families when they’re moving in,” said Eric Wright, a volunteer from Impact Campus Ministries. “They always like seeing someone with a handcart and a happy smile when they’re moving in.”
Wright has helped Vandal Volunteers move students into the residence halls for nine years and said he enjoys it every year.
“I’m an extrovert so I like hearing people’s stories and where they’re from and where they want to go,” Wright said. “That’s my favorite part. They have all kinds of dreams and aspirations so it’s great to hear those.”
Residence Halls
More than 1,600 students checked into the residence halls this year, and Dee Dee Kanikkeberg, University Housing director, said it was the smoothest move-in process she’s seen in years.
Kanikkeberg said she is pleased about move-in.
“It’s really exciting for us because we did check-in outside and part of that was to create customer satisfaction because I think often our lounges are a little bit smaller and no matter what great planning we do, logistically they’re just kind of a tight space so we were excited to try this outdoor check-in and it seemed to work pretty well overall,” she said.
Jacob dunning will be a freshman living in the Theophilus Tower this year. He and his grandma made the drive from Nampa, Idaho a day early so they could begin moving into the residence halls as soon as possible. Dunning said he’s excited to become a Vandal.
“It’s a good school and it’s far enough away but I don’t have to pay out of state tuition,” Dunning said. “I’m excited about waking up to the nice view every morning.”
Dunning is the first in his family to head to college, something his grandma, Cyndy Brooks said she is proud to be a part of.
“It’s been kind of fun and exciting. But don’t take the stairs to the 9th floor,” Brooks said. “He’s my first grandchild and the first one going to college. It’s really exciting and I’m really proud of him.”
Kanikkeberg said welcoming students to campus is one of the reasons she chose to be a part of University Housing.
“I just like the excitement and working with the families and the students and just being able to act as a resource and answer their questions, put their mind at ease,” Kanikkeberg said. “They’re entrusting us and our job is to serve the students and the families and I just love this time of year and the simple energy that comes and how excited the students are to become a part of the Vandal family.”
Greek Life
Students involved in the Greek system began arriving on the UI campus two weeks ago to prepare for formal recruitment. Readying the houses and planning for the recruitment process can be a lot of work but is something many in the Greek system look forward to every year.
Cody Lopez, Theta Chi president, has been a member of the fraternity since his freshman year and said he couldn’t imagine having made any other choice.
“It’s a community. It’s a family away from home and there’s a place out there for each and every person,” Lopez said. “I honestly couldn’t see it any other way. This place is just kind of one in and of itself. It kind of builds you as a man here.”
Lopez, a Rupert, Idaho native, is a senior in the house and said he loves returning to his home away from home.
“I’m a long ways away from people and so all these guys they’re like my family,” Lopez said. “I’m the president of the house so they’re like my kids. Going away for a long time is rough and just to have them all back, to have the whole clan back together is really nice.”
Matt Kurz, Greek Advisor, said about 600 students participated in formal recruitment this year. He said 310 participated in sorority recruitment, and the final numbers for fraternities will be in once rush ends on Saturday.
“It’s just exciting to see all of the new students that are going to be our future fraternity men and sorority leaders on campus and it’s really great to work with them and help them find the best spots for them that will help them be successful on campus,” Kurz said. “We’re hoping for a good safe year and another strong year academically and we’re hoping that our students are safe and successful.”
Kaitlyn Krasselt can be reached at [email protected]