Revamped Campus Greets Record Enrollment of Students
09/03/2014
It was the first wave and it was awesome. Over Labor Day weekend, students — all 4,000 of them who live in the university’s 10 residential halls — moved back to campus, lugging clothes, books and electronic gear into their rooms.
When classes began Sept. 3, all 17,000 students — a record enrollment — were on campus, ready to tackle the new academic year. For the first time, UMass Lowell has more than 10,000 undergraduate students.
At convocation on Sept. 2, Deanne Bell, host of PBS’ award-winning children’s show “Design Squad,” gave the keynote address at the official welcome for freshmen at the Tsongas Center. Johnny Earle, the entrepreneur behind the Johnny Cupcakes apparel brand, also addressed new students.
UMass Lowell’s new fight song, “River Hawk Pride,” was introduced at convocation and sung with gusto by students, faculty and staff.
Students returned to a campus continuing to undergo a stunning transformation. Construction on the $95 million University Crossing student hub is complete, residence halls are refreshed, classrooms renovated, a new stop for shuttle bus service installed on North Campus, and ground broken on the new home for the Manning School of Business.