Warm smiles awaited soaked families as they sprinted into the Broward Hall lobby to avoid a monsoon Friday afternoon.
UF Student Body President Tj Villamil and UF Board of Trustees member Alan Levine greeted new students and their families during residence hall move-in day with cold bottles of water and words of welcome and advice.
Move-in day had a personal significance for Villamil, who will graduate this spring.
“It’s bittersweet,” he said. “You’re excited to see all of these new people here, but you don’t want to leave.”
The duo visited Broward, Beaty and Jennings Halls and a handful of other residence halls in a golf cart. Levine stopped the cart every time he saw someone walking, leaned out and offered the soaked pedestrians water.
“I know how it feels,” Levine said.
He still remembers when he dropped off his son at the university five years ago, a scene that, he said, was much more chaotic than it was on Friday.
“I’m happy to see how much effort UF goes to to make it a smoother and more enjoyable experience for families,” he said.
Other veterans of the move-in rush agreed that the process has vastly improved.
Kelly Korman, a women’s studies graduate student who has been a student resident assistant for five years, said her freshman move-in was stressful for her whole family.
“That day was chaos,” Korman said. “Now it’s much more organized, and we have less panicked parents.”
Harry Beisswenger, who dropped off his daughter Bridget at Broward Hall, said he was glad to see that administrators were willing to welcome him and his family to UF.
“Everyone has been helpful and accommodating,” Beisswenger said, “but the rain is another story.”
Contact Shelby Webb at swebb@alligator.org.
