In traditional fashion, Week of Welcome at Dixie State University began and ended with a bang.
Although studies are generally the main activity in college, the events during Week of Welcome are planned to excite students for the new school year. A carnival, a comedian and a dance were all wrapped up in the semester’s first week.
“We are really looking forward to this year,” said Sky Crystal, a junior history major from Kimberly, Idaho, and member of the DSU Student Association department of public relations. “We had a wonderful turnout at the carnival [and a] great turnout at the comedian.”
The DSUSA has been busy preparing to welcome students like Autumn Holiday, a freshman nursing major from Monument Valley, to a new year at DSU.
“I liked how they did the orientation for the freshmen,” Holiday said. “They made it more exciting [and] they let everybody get involved … It was really entertaining.”
The celebrations started off with the incoming students on Freshman Friday, and then Club Rush throughout a couple of days of the next week on the Diagonal gave students the opportunity to branch out and take in all that Dixie has to offer.
“It’s pretty awesome, getting myself out there,” Holiday said. “Meeting new people from different cultures and stuff [is] pretty cool.”
Jill Wulfenstein, vice president of student life and a senior integrated studies major from Pahrump, Nevada, said everybody in DSUSA had a part in putting all of the events together, but the student community is what made the week so successful.
“The best thing about this job is that we get to create [events] that you get to come and have the best time with and make memories that people talk about in college,” Wulfenstein said. “It’s been amazing. Dixie has the best students.”
The events of the week exceeded expectations, especially at the Foam Dance, Wulfenstein said
“Our PR department is phenomenal,” she said. “We outsold tickets [compared to] last year — just presold tickets — by over 500 people, and that was because our PR department is out of this world.”
Crystal said his favorite part of being involved with public relations during Week of Welcome was meeting new people and provide students with the “university feel.”
“We are giving them a positive first-year experience,” Crystal said. “They are excited and they’re having a good time.”
Wulfenstein said there are plenty more events to go to throughout the fall, and next semester’s Dixie Fest is one to look forward to.
“Buckle up, [Dixie Fest is] going to be freaking sweet,” she said. “We just want to get everyone involved, and make sure that we are trying to get everyone from all walks of life. I do this for them. We do it for the students at Dixie. It would be pointless without the students.”
The calendar of DSUSA events for the remainder of the year can be found at http://dixiestudentlife.com/calendar/.
