This past Saturday was Move-in Day on UT’s campus. More than 4,200 freshmen packed up their most prized possessions, recruited family and friends—preferably with strong arms—and made the trek to their new residence hall rooms.
One of their move-in helpers was Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek, who wasn’t afraid to break a sweat lifting large boxes and bins.
“It’s really great to be here with all our new students,” he said. “We like to have this opportunity for them and their families to come here and get established in the residence halls.”
Members of the Class of 2016 were polled about the most important items they packed for college. They listed peanut butter, clothes, a mattress pad, computers, and a rug—because freshman Aaron Gamble detests “waking up and putting his feet on a cold floor.”
An army of volunteers from various campus and community organizations were on hand to help freshmen check-in, get carts, load-up, and find their rooms.
Parents were also there to lift heavy objects and lend advice.
“This is my fifth of five students and I suggested to each one to pack light but you can tell that didn’t happen,” said one parent pointing to a pile of materials.
When the chancellor moved into his freshmen residence hall at Texas A&M, he does not remember the move-in process being so organized.
“We had to park a long way from the dorm,” he laughed. “No one was there to help us. And there were no carts so you had to carry everything yourself. And my room was on top floor so we had to go four floors up. And it was hot.”
Freshmen said they are most looking forward to the freedom of being on their own, meeting people, and just being a Vol.
The Class of 2016 arrived at UT with an average ACT score of 27 and an average GPA of 3.89. About 44 percent had average GPAs of 4.0 or higher. UT received about 14,400 applications for seats in this year’s freshman class, a 5 percent increase over last year.