SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Incoming first-year students at Wofford College arriving on campus today (Wednesday, Aug. 30) had their vehicles swarmed by members of the student Orientation Staff along with student-athletes, faculty and staff members and even President Nayef Samhat and his wife, Prema, and Provost Mike Sosulski who quickly unloaded the cars, vans and U-hauls and carried their belongings to their new homes for the next four years.

It is a tradition for move-in day at Wofford.

The new students also found a campus with a whole new face. Two new buildings – the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts and the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium – not only have changed the physical appearance of campus, but the entire atmosphere of college life at Wofford.

The center for the arts will be put to full use this fall for the first time, with performances by Wofford Theatre in the Jerome Johnson Richardson Theatre and the Sallenger Sisters Black Box Theatre. The facility’s Richardson Family Art Museum will host an exhibition of paintings and artifacts of Sir Winston Churchill and pieces from Spartanburg’s Johnson Collection until Sept. 16, with more exciting exhibitions to come. The indoor stadium will host its first competition Sept. 20 as the volleyball team takes on Furman University.

Members of the Class of 2021 checked in this morning and began moving in during a day full of hustle and bustle, meeting new friends – maybe even a roommate they’ve never met before – and getting a lay of the land at Wofford.

Classes for the 2017-18 academic year begin on Monday, Sept. 4.

Opening orientation session for the first-year students and their parents was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on the front lawn of Main Building. Also planned are meetings with academic advisers, a picnic dinner with their fellow newcomers and families, and a dessert reception with the Samhats before saying goodbye to their parents.

On Thursday, Aug. 31, first-year students will travel to Camp Greystone in Tuxedo, N.C., for The Summit orientation, where there will be swimming, canoeing and other activities. A field day competition will be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, on the lawn of Main Building. Other orientation activities will continue throughout the week on campus.

At 4:45 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, the Class of 2021 will gather for the Terrier Walk and Tunnel before the Terriers’ football game against Furman University, which begins at 6 p.m. in Gibbs Stadium.

The Class of 2021 photograph will be made at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 3, on the front steps of Main Building, and the students will participate in the annual Stop Hunger Now service project beginning at 1:30 p.m. in Benjamin Johnson Arena in the Campus Life Building. The students will package some 25,000 nutritionally supplemented meals to go to high-need locations around the world, such as Haiti. This is the seventh year the incoming class has participated in this project.

Here are some important dates for the opening of the fall 2017 semester:

Wednesday, Aug. 30
8:30-11 a.m. – First-year students move in. (Check-in is at The Commons in the Campus Life Building; move-in is along Campus Drive at the Greene and Marsh Residence Halls. Please note that traffic on Campus Drive will be ONE WAY, from North Church Street to Memorial Drive.)

3:30 p.m. – Opening session, front lawn of Main Building

Thursday, Aug. 31
First-year student orientation continues.

10:30 a.m. – First-year students board buses for The Summit at Camp Greystone in Tuxedo, N.C. (Buses load on Campus Drive in front of Marsh and Greene Halls.)

Friday, Sept. 1
First-year student orientation continues.

8:30-11:30 a.m. – Transfer students move in. (Check-in is at The Commons in the Campus Life Building.)

2:30 p.m. – Field Day Competition for first-year students, front lawn of Main Building

7 p.m. – Women’s soccer game vs. Radford University, Snyder Field

Saturday, Sept. 2
First-year student orientation continues.

4:45 p.m. – Class of 2021 gathers for Terrier Walk and Tunnel for football game vs. Furman University, horseshoe behind Main Building

6 p.m. – Terriers football vs. Furman University, Gibbs Stadium

Sunday, Sept. 3
10:30 a.m. – Class of 2021 photograph, steps of Main Building, followed by the First Service of Worship, Leonard Auditorium, Main Building

1:30-4:15 p.m. – Class of 2021 Service Project, Stop Hunger Now, Benjamin Johnson Arena, Campus Life Building

Monday, Sept. 4
8:30 a.m. – Classes begin

Tuesday, Sept. 5
11 a.m. – Opening Convocation, Leonard Auditorium, Main Building. Featured speaker, the Honorable Judge Henry F. Floyd, judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and a 1970 Wofford graduate. (Media: You will receive a separate release on this event soon.)

Floyd also will receive an honorary degree from Wofford College. Floyd was appointed in October 2011 by President Barack Obama. He was first appointed to the federal judiciary by President George W. Bush in September 2003 as a judge for the U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina, to a seat vacated by Dennis W. Shedd, a 1975 graduate of Wofford. In both cases, Floyd was confirmed by enormous majorities in the U.S. Senate. Floyd is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law and served in the South Carolina House of Representatives. In the spring 2017 semester, Floyd co-taught constitutional law at Wofford with Dr. David Alvis, associate professor of government and international affairs.

Tuesday, Sept. 12
11 a.m. – Dedication and community celebration of the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts. Lunch on the lawn to follow. (Media: You will receive a separate release on this event soon.)

Thursday, Sept. 14
8-11 p.m. – College Fest, Morgan Square, downtown Spartanburg