The kickoff of O-Week 2025 welcomed more than 3,800 students into their new home at the University of Rhode Island through activities like beach trips, dances and karaoke.
With many events planned, Coordinator of Major Events Michael Nolfe and Coordinator of Organization Advising and Systems Management Lucas DeWitt from the Office of Student Involvement said that there was a similar level of participation and enthusiasm as there was before COVID-19. The week began on Aug. 29th, during the move-in weekend.
“People are kind of getting back into what was like pre-COVID levels of activity and so we definitely were very happy with the turnouts,” Nolfe said.
Welcome Week and O-Week catered to 3,000 first-year students and 550 transfer students, according to Rhody Today. While most of the events were the same as they had been in prior years, there was more enthusiasm for the back-to-school activities this year, according to Nolfe.
The Office of Student Involvement did what they could, but event coordinators like Nolfe and DeWitt said they faced challenges of getting students engaged during the pandemic.
There was a time where the Office of Student Involvement hosted a movie night on the football field and the team responsible for the event had to draw out spots 6-feet apart from each other for students to sit, according to Nolfe. However, every year they have seen more excitement from students, this year being the biggest so far.
“O-Week was created after COVID, and the creation of it was meant to help students adjust to college and find ways to get involved and engaged,” DeWitt said.
Welcome Week has been around for decades and is run by the Office of Student Involvement, according to Nolfe. RhodyFest started in 1998, while the university created O-Week five years ago.
Events like RhodyFest and Trivia Night in the ballroom have been a constant for years, according to DeWitt. There is very minimal change between the actual events hosted by the Office of Student Involvement, but there is a shift in engagement.
One new edition to the events includes Bingo Night.
The Office of Student Involvement was expecting 125-150 students, according to DeWeitt. They ended up hosting over 250 students that evening, over 100 more students than projected, marking a turning point in their involvement.
“I felt [O-Week] was a good opportunity for students to settle into URI and a new academic semester,” first-year student Marco said.
A few events that students named as their favorites this year were the football game on Aug. 29th, the nightly dances and the trivia night, according to a survey conducted by The Good 5 Cent Cigar’s survey.
Marco suggested more activity options for commuter students, as many students might miss out on events because they commute from around the region. First-year student Gwenyth McNulty, suggested more trivia nights along with more weekday activities.
Many activities are dedicated to just the weekend, according to the O-Week schedule. Surveyed students suggested having more events during the first week of school.
