College move-in day brings thrills, chills

The mound of clothing, pillows, and belongings piled on top of Cassie Rumbough's bed looked a little daunting.

The colorful dorm room was already filled with her possessions and those of her new roommate - including similarly trendy bedspreads and a coffee machine, which both proclaimed to be the most important item in the room.

Rumbough, 18, of Bloomsburg, Pa., put a hand on top of the mini-fridge and leaned back, surveying the mess. What was she going to do next? She sighed.

"I'm going to unpack," she said.

But that was likely to be the most difficult part of moving in for Rumbough, who, along with about 2,100 other new students at West Chester University, arrived at her dorm Friday.

In years past, it took families four hours to get through moving-day lines to the residence halls, said Rich Przywara, executive director of the West Chester University Foundation, which runs University Student Housing and who was running Friday's show.

Now, the average unloading time is seven minutes.

"We let [parents] know: just chill in your car. We got everything," said junior and resident assistant Morgan Goldsmith-Capps, who was volunteering in the dorms on Friday.

Across the region - and the country - the Class of 2019 is completing or preparing for the taxing, thrilling, and time-honored ritual known as move-in day. This week, freshmen arrived at some local schools, including the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova University, and more, such as those at Rutgers and Rowan Universities in New Jersey, are set to move in next week.

The day often includes both excitement and tears from new students and parents - and increasingly features well-oiled help from upperclassmen. At West Chester, organizers have carefully honed a system to streamline what is traditionally a hectic day.

It's "everything you can do to make the experience about calmness," said Przywara.

On Friday, the campus swelled with new students, parents, and neon-shirted upperclassmen - about 600 of them volunteering to help the first-years.

In a finely orchestrated if cacophonous symphony, the students directed traffic, unloaded cars, and pushed yellow carts that overflowed with everything from bedding to rain boots and packs of soda. Members of different campus groups did the heavy lifting for the freshmen.

Most new students had delivered the majority of their belongings to their dorms before Friday, Przywara said. A University Student Housing program called Drop and Go allowed them to drop off boxes during scheduled times starting Aug. 7.

"This is extremely well done," said Rumbough's mother, Kellee. "We have another child at another university, and it's night and day."

Cassie Rumbough's roommate, Kelsey Reider, an 18-year-old from Wyomissing, Berks County, agreed. It was hard to see her family leave, she said, but the excitement made it worth it.

"Once I moved in and I saw everything set up," she said, "it was like, OK, it's time. I'm ready to go out on my own."

610-313-8205@McDanielJustine