Anniversary Year Kicks Off with Events for Largest Group of New Students in University’s History
Image by Photo by Tory Wesnofske for UMass Lowell
08/29/2019
Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
Media Advisory
What: UMass Lowell will begin its 125th anniversary year with events welcoming the university’s largest-ever group of incoming students.
More than 3,300 first-year students and new transfers will join the UMass Lowell student body at programs that kick off UMass Lowell’s academic year. Throughout the year, the university will hold events marking its 125th anniversary.
The Class of 2023 – which has the highest average high-school GPA in UMass Lowell history – joins the university’s more than 18,000-member student body. For the fourth year in a row, UMass Lowell has been named one of the top 10 fastest-growing public research universities in the nation by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Events include:
- More than 400 first-year students who are the first in their families to attend college will be inducted into UMass Lowell’s River Hawk Scholars Academy at a ceremony featuring faculty, peer leaders in the program and other university representatives. The nationally recognized program – which has grown from 95 students since it was founded two years ago and is expanding its offerings this year – provides support for first-generation college students designed to foster academic and personal success through advising, programs, mentorship and other services designed to meet their specialized needs. Friday, Aug. 30 at 3 to 4 p.m.
- This year’s record number of new students will be the first of more than 4,800 UMass Lowell undergraduates who will move into university housing for the fall semester. Students, families and university representatives will be available for photos and interviews on Saturday, Aug. 31 from 10 a.m. to noon.
- Emmy Award-winning producer and director Pierce Freelon – an entrepreneur, jazz musician and former mayoral candidate of Durham, N.C. – will headline Convocation, the official welcome to UMass Lowell for first-year students and new transfers. Other speakers will include Chancellor Jacquie Moloney and other UMass Lowell representatives, along with student leaders from Boxford and Lexington, Mass., and Cumberland, R.I. The event will also include a performance by “New Hampshire Idol” winner and UMass Lowell graduate Nicole Hayek of Salem, N.H., and a pitch contest featuring students in the university’s DifferenceMaker entrepreneurship program, which has led to the launch of several ventures and new patents. Tuesday, Sept. 3, 10 a.m.
- Free Chromebook laptops will be presented to first-year students who plan to become teachers. Through the pilot program, the laptops will provide students an important tool in completing all of their coursework and as well as exclusive access to a range of Google Education tools used by teachers, while also reducing their college costs. Faculty researchers in the College of Education will study whether providing free laptops – a practice common in K-12 education, but less so among colleges and universities – promotes academic success for the participating students. Wednesday, Sept. 4 and Thursday, Sept. 5 at noon.
Where:
- River Hawk Scholars Academy induction – Olney Hall, Room 150, North Campus, 265 Riverside St., Lowell
- Move-in Day – University Suites, East Campus, 327 Aiken St., Lowell
- Convocation – Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Lowell
- Laptop presentation – O’Leary Library Learning Commons, South Campus, Room 528, 61 Wilder St., Lowell
Please contact UMass Lowell media relations for directions and parking information for all events.