With the calendar now displaying August, the annual pilgrimage to Southern Utah University has begun. License plates from nearly every state, from Arkansas to Alaska, have sprung up across Cedar City and retail stores are filled with beleaguered parents and wild-eyed students buying supplies and dorm necessities.
In this time of transition, volunteers from across campus have swooped in to calm the minds of fledging freshmen and panicked parents at the annual T-Bird Landing—also known as move in day.
About 400 students moved into the campus's four residence halls on Wednesday, August 21. SUU staff, faculty, students, coaches and athletes were on hand unloading cars, answering questions and hauling boxes up flights of stairs.
As soon as the rookie T-Birds pulled their tightly packed vehicles into the Cedar Hall or Eccles Living and Learning Center parking lots, green-shirted volunteers flew into action. With an average move in time of five minutes per student, their parents were left flummoxed by the quickness of their child's acclimation to the T-Bird family.
In its sixth year, T-Bird Landing takes the stress and demand from moving, giving students and parents additional aid and freeing up time before the start of fall classes.
All of SUU, from faculty to staff to current students want to welcome the Class of 2017 and their families to the T-Bird Family.