Wilkes University welcomes students to campus for its 87th academic year during Welcome Weekend from Aug. 23 to 25. The weekend of events is a prelude to the start of classes on Monday, Aug. 26.
Welcome Weekend
Move-in day and First-Year Foundations Convocation for first-year and transfer students will be held on Friday, Aug. 23. Students begin moving in as early as 8 a.m. and continue throughout the day. Upperclassmen move in on Saturday and Sunday.
The convocation at 3 p.m. on Friday formally welcomes new students to the academic life of the University culminating in an address by interim President Paul S. Adams. Speakers also include Terese Wignot, interim provost and senior vice president, Alanah Guerrero, student government president and Leslie Lopez, sophomore education major. It will be held in the Arnaud C. Marts Center on South Franklin Street.
In a new Wilkes tradition that started in 2018, convocation will begin with a procession of first-year students from the McHale Athletic Center at University Center on Main through the Campus Gateway to the Marts Center. This symbolic procession is reversed when students cross the commencement stage after their time at Wilkes has concluded. The procession will depart the McHale Athletic Center around 2:40 p.m.
The New Class
Wilkes’ Class of 2023 and 2025 has approximately 570 new students. The incoming class represents students from 20 states and 12 countries. In addition, 82 transfer students and more than 400 new graduate students will attend the University. This brings the total number of students enrolled in all of Wilkes’ programs to approximately 4,600.
Additional highlights from the first-year class:
- Fifty-two students are in the Wilkes honors program.
- Eighteen students will join Wilkes EDGE, a program designed to help first-year students transition to college life.
- Nearly half are the first in their families to pursue a four-year degree.
- More
than 200 new students are athletes, bringing the total number of
student-athletes to 550.
In addition, 16 new faculty members in fields that include gaming and virtual design, nursing, pharmacy, political science, management and music will also mark their first semester at Wilkes.
Campus Enhancements
Students will return to
significant progress on Bruggeworth Field at the Ralston Athletic Complex. Work
continues on the new, multi-purpose field that centralizes athletic
competitions on turf fields that can withstand changing weather conditions. It
allows more teams to simultaneously compete and will be used for men’s and
women’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse and women’s field hockey. It also
includes a new turf baseball field, press boxes, spectator areas and a
scoreboard. A formal dedication will be held on Saturday, Oct. 5 in conjunction with
Homecoming weekend.
Students will also return to new sidewalks, landscaping and streetlights on South Main Street. This work continues the University’s Neighborhood Enhancement Project geared to create an attractive and walkable downtown for students, faculty and staff.
