(EDWARDSVILLE, ILL.) Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and area merchants are preparing to welcome back some 13,500 students attending SIUE who will begin returning to campus Friday, Aug. 22.
Cougar Welcome 2008 activities will kick off with students moving in to residence halls and apartments and will end Friday, Sept. 5 with the annual Block Party in downtown Edwardsville from 6 p.m. to midnight.
“We’ve expanded our welcoming opportunities so that students will have even more time to transition back to school,” said Cheryl Heard, assistant director of SIUE’s Kimmel Leadership Center. “Activities are designed to greet new and returning students to SIUE and to promote an atmosphere of welcome and involvement.”
A business fair will take place from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. and a special invitation is extended to the University community to join SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift and Edwardsville Mayor Gary Niebur for an Ice Cream Social featuring complementary ice cream from noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 27, in Goshen Lounge on the first floor of SIUE’s Morris University Center.
“Cougar Welcome will be filled with lots of other fun and exciting events and activities such as free food, games, contests, prizes and free T-shirts,” she said.
The 15th annual showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show will take place from 7-10 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28 in the Morris University Center Meridian Ballroom.
SIUE Admissions and Academic Marketing staff will venture out into the community to distribute “Welcome SIUE Students” signs to businesses in the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon area.
“It’s such a pleasure to work with the community to welcome new and returning students to campus,” said Karen Bollinger, assistant director of SIUE Academic Marketing Services. “It must be a great feeling for SIUE students to walk or drive through the major arteries of town and find the Welcome SIUE Students signs in practically every window.
Bollinger said the Admissions office and Academic Marketing work hard throughout the year to meet, recruit and engage students to choose SIUE. “We try to throw out the red carpet for students to help them know SIUE and the surrounding community is their home away from home.”
A listing of Cougar Welcome activities is available at http://events.siue.edu/siuevents/.
(EDWARDSVILLE) Nonstop Rock will rock the block for late summer fun and entertainment as part of a celebration welcoming back Southern Illinois University Edwardsville students at the intersection of Second and St. Louis streets in downtown Edwardsville on Sept. 5.
SIUE students, faculty, staff and the community are invited to start the party at 6 p.m. with no admission charge. A DJ will play music from 6-8 p.m. and Nonstop Rock will play from 8 p.m. to closing with great rock-n-roll music for dancing.
Since its inception, the Block Party has been held on the first Friday of the first week of classes but this year that falls on Labor Day weekend; therefore, the Block Party Committee moved this year’s celebration to Sept. 5.
“This is a great way for our new and returning students to become acquainted with the downtown Edwardsville business district,” said Greg Conroy, SIUE’s director of Public Affairs and one of the coordinators of the event. “There will be Edwardsville restaurants and shops with food and clothing booths at the block party to give students a taste of Edwardsville.
“In addition to activities for students, we’ll have many inflatable games and activity booths for the entire family, so that everyone can join in the fun.”
The Block Party has grown since it began in 2000, with some 3,000 people attending in 2006. The event was cancelled in 2007 due to inclement weather.
The event is sponsored by the city of Edwardsville, SIUE, the SIUE Campus
Activities Board and Student Government, the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce, J. F. Electric, the Edwardsville Intelligencer, SIUE Marketing and Communications, SIUE University Relations and National City Bank.
Editors: Photos are available from previous Block Parties. Click on the links for each. Photo 1, Edwardsville City Administrator Ben Dickmann and SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift talk during the celebration. Photo 2, An SIUE student guides a child’s hand into a tub of warm wax at the Wax Hands exhibit. The wax-covered hand is then cooled and results in the creation of a shell of the participant’s hand. Photo 3, SIUE students and community members enjoy live music and activities at the Block Party each year.
