[048] Connection Point becomes new face of welcome week at MTSU

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — MTSU Student Affairs administrator Danny Kelley wants incoming students revved up and ready to kickoff the fall semester with a string of upcoming fun activities.

What was formerly known as "Week of Welcome" at MTSU now has a new but familiar name — Connection Point. The Center for Student Involvement and Leadership is teaming with New Student and Family Programs to merge Week of Welcome and Connection Point together with a few minor changes and new additions to the event list.

Connection Point provides programming that gives students opportunities to engage in campus life and better “connect” with True Blue Community.

“The Student Affair's staff ultimately decided we should probably be more structured in what we present entering students as far as involvement opportunities,” said Kelley, assistant vice president of Student Affairs.

Thousands of MTSU students returning for fall semester will be able to participate in a series of events, beginning Friday, Aug. 25, with the We-Haul move-in to campus housing followed by a dinner and carnival the same day. More events are slated the following week and beyond, with Connection Point ending in October.

This year instead of hosting Convocation and the President’s Picnic Sunday afternoon, the university will hold the event at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug 26, giving students’ families the opportunity to return home in a timely manner and students time to prepare for classes beginning Aug. 28. "Hillbilly Elegy" author J.D. Vance is the guest speaker.

To see the complete list of activities, visit https://www.mtsu.edu/stuaff/connect/.

As Connection Point enters its fifth year, student involvement programs will continue promoting a welcome week theme each year — this year is "Raiders are Out of this World" — but now under the Connection Point umbrella.

“Since it's a semesterwide initiative, why not just call it the same thing,” said Gina Poff, New Student and Family Programs director.

Research shows the more involved students are with campus life, the more likely they are to graduate versus a student who isn't participating in any extracurricular activities.

New additions that are part of the fun-filled social celebration welcoming students back include MTSU's “Freedom Sings” — a partnership between musical artists and the First Amendment Center to teach about the nation’s most fundamental freedoms. The free event is set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27, in Tucker Theatre for the first time since 2011.

Another new event on the schedule is a #MTBAEWatch beach party hosted by the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students, educating students in the following areas: definition of consent, campus resources for students who have experienced sexual assault or violence, ways to be an active bystander, safe consumption of alcohol and healthy dating habits.

Students need to bring their IDs for all Connection Point activities as a way of capturing attendance, Kelley said.