Traditional Maine Hello Program Set for Aug. 29
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Hundreds of University of Maine faculty, staff and student volunteers will greet the members of UMaine’s Class of 2012 when the new first-year students arrive on campus Friday, Aug. 29. The program runs from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Known as the “Maine Hello,” the traditional welcoming features more volunteers than ever this year. New students and their families simply drive up to residence halls, accept a warm greeting and stand back as the student’s belongiings are carried to the student’s new room by volunteers.
“The ‘Maine Hello’ gives the new members of our community immediate insight into the warm and welcoming nature of the University of Maine,” says Robert Dana, UMaine’s vice president for student affairs and dean of students. “We all enjoy meeting the new students and those who accompany them on move-in day, and it sets the tone for an important weekend leading up to the start of classes.”
The new students will be busy for the four days leading up to the beginning of classes on Tuesday, Sept. 2. A series of Fall Welcome Weekend activities are planned, to help students get acclimated to life at UMaine and to be prepared to begin their studies. One hiighlight will be the Class of 2012 Convocation, scheduled for Memorial Gym at 5 p.m. on Friday. The guest speaker is Arthur Serota, a 1966 UMaine graduate who is executive director of the United Movement to End Child Soldiering in Northern Uganda, Africa.
Friday’s move-in activities will take place in the residence halls reserved for UMaine first-year students: Oxford, Somerset, Knox, Androscoggin, Gannett and Cumberland. President Robert Kennedy will participate in the initiative and will be available for interviews. Reporters interested in finding Kennedy on Friday morning should call Joe Carr at 949-4149.