Campus began to look a little less empty last weekend as students moved into Carleton residence between Sept. 1 to Sept. 5.
After a year of reduced housing capacity and new COVID-19 protocols, residence is once again back to near full capacity with a new vaccination mandate. The university’s new move-in protocols kept the weekend from looking nearly as busy as in 2019.
Students showed up to move in at a pre-scheduled time and were directed in their cars to a parking lot near their residence, according to Erin Gale, a second-year student and residence fellow (RF). Students received PPE kits, which included masks and hand sanitizer, and were only allowed to have two other people help take their belongings up to their rooms. Residence fellows sat outside each residence to give students their key cards and direct them to their rooms.
The Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) had a tent in the quad so the association could meet new students. Sami Islam, RRRA president, said he hoped students could enjoy move-in this year.
“Students that come and move in have to kind of move in themselves this year, which is a little bit difficult,” Islam said. “We’re hoping that our tenting and our virtual [events] will make people feel welcome and feel like they’re getting that real Carleton experience.”
Alexandria Larose, an employee of Carleton Housing and Residence Life Services, said the new move-in system maintained social distancing guidelines.
“This year is a little bit different because it’s a drive-thru move-in. It’s honestly been going super smoothly and honestly, people seem pretty happy and still super excited,” Larose said.
Maggie Crowley, a first-year student moving into Lennox, and her brother Connor Crowley, a fourth-year student moving into Leeds, said their experience was efficient.
“This [move-in weekend] is probably the most organized one that I recall,” Connor said. “The other ones were all chaotic and there was no real move-in procedure.”
Maggie and Connor said they came in separate cars to streamline their move-in process. It was easier for attendants to direct the siblings to separate houses that way, Connor said.
Larose also said she remembered how crazy move-in used to be before the pandemic.
“It was really high energy. There were frosh facilitators who would run out from the building,” Larose said. “There would be people grabbing your stuff out of your car and running it up to your room for you. Sometimes stuff would get lost. It was still fun but a lot more chaotic.”
Islam said that while students were still affected by the pandemic, move-in this year could seem a little more normal.
“Last year, a lot of stuff was still up in the air. As an RF, we were still trying to figure out how we were going to navigate it,” Islam said. “I think the environment this year is a little bit more social. I think people have learned to adjust to the pandemic.”
Featured photo by Spencer Colby.
