Every spring, the University of Rhode Island opens its doors to prospective students for Welcome Days, leaving those already on-campus to adapt, according to some students.
URI held its final Welcome Day for the incoming class of 2030 on Sunday. For some current students, the event created more frustration than excitement. Designed to introduce prospective and incoming students to campus life, Welcome Days are filled with tours, information sessions and large crowds.
As normal operations were interrupted, students said they felt overlooked in favor of prospective attendees.
“Every Welcome Day feels like an episode of ‘Survivor,’” third-year Gabby Ruggieri said.
Only one dining hall is open on the weekend; the primary dining hall was closed for the event, forcing students to find alternative meal options. Although the university opened up the Ram’s Den and accepted hand swipes for meals, this ultimately created difficulties for both students and Ram’s Den workers, according to students.
“Surviving welcome days was really difficult and kind of an inconvenience,” Ruggieri said.
The effects extended beyond dining. Students described a sense of being displaced on their own campus, navigating packed walkways and avoiding common areas altogether. For some, the sheer volume of visitors made it difficult.
“I honestly tried super hard not to leave my dorm on welcome days,” First-year student Shannon Gilman said. “Every time I went outside, I was bombarded with large groups of people and overcrowding is already a big problem at URI, but it just felt a lot worse with herds and herds of people.”
While Welcome Days can serve an important purpose in showcasing the university to prospective students, students also face their own new set of challenges. As the cycle continues each year, watching from the sidelines as the next generation arrives, bringing with them the same excitement they once had, before becoming part of the crowd themselves.
