ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Winthrop University will welcome freshman students during
Orientation sessions this summer.
New students entering in the fall are required to attend one of five Orientation sessions
offered during this month and in August. Family members are encouraged to take advantage
of Family Orientation, a program offered concurrently with the first day of each of the student sessions.
Session I is from June 15-16, Session II from June 20-21, Session III from June 23-24, Session IV from June 27-28 and Session V from Aug. 17-18. Transfer students entering Winthrop this fall may take advantage
of Transfer Orientations in July and August. Here is the schedule for students and here is the schedule for
families.
Orientation is a program designed to assist new students and their families in adjusting to life
as a Winthrop student. During Orientation, new students meet current student leaders,
receive information on academic expectations and opportunities for involvement, are
advised, and register for classes.
Organizer Carrie Whiteside, director of new student and family programs, and the student Orientation staff have
designed programs and activities so students will interact with upperclassmen, Orientation
faculty mentors, instructors, key campus personnel and each other to build a web of
support for their Winthrop experience.
Students also will get an ID made with the use of iris scanners. The technology involves
taking a picture of a person's eyes and using the photograph for future identification.
The freshmen also will receive a copy of the university's common book for 2016-17,
"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls.
It tells of Walls' nomadic life with parents whose own mental/emotional problems expose
their children to poverty, homelessness, hunger, sporadic education, rat-infested
dwellings with no plumbing and non-existent health care. Walls' survival and drive
to change her life serves as a model of resilience and an inspiration to overcome
hardship.
The book and Orientation will help prepare students for college, according to Whiteside.
"Winthrop expects students to undergo transformation as a learner and engage in life
in and out of the classroom and the community. It also gives them the opportunity
to learn about the responsibilities they will have as a student and become familiar
with the place they'll come to call home over the next few years.
An Orientation Leadership Staff will work with Whiteside. Alyssa Lamb, a junior integrated marketing communication major from Birmingham, Alabama, is the
student program coordinator and William Keen, a senior theatre major from Rock Hill, is the student staff coordinator. Two graduate
student interns, Katie Lombard from Vanderbilt University and Bekah Hickman from Arkansas Tech University, who both want to work in higher education, also are
assisting.
The Orientation Leaders for the first four sessions are:
Hayley Atkinson, sophomore, early childhood education, Little River, South Carolina
Laura Banks, junior, elementary education, Ninety Six, South Carolina
Tucker Chandler, sophomore, social work, Sumter, South Carolina
Maria Clarken, junior, Spanish and political science, Charleston, South Carolina
Bailee Conner, sophomore, biology education, Rock Hill, South Carolina
Brandon Dill, sophomore, computer information systems, Clemson, South Carolina
Chloe Gill, sophomore, elementary education, Rock Hill, South Carolina
Jayma Goodwin, sophomore, psychology, Greer, South Carolina
Lindsey Hawkins, senior, early childhood education, Lyman, South Carolina
Jami Hodgins, junior, English, Florence, South Carolina
Daijah Jackson, sophomore, family and consumer sciences, Greenville, South Carolina
Jaime Lopez-White, senior, human nutrition, Summerville, South Carolina
Jon'Paul Montgomery, sophomore, international business, Rock Hill, South Carolina
Joshua Mugabe, sophomore, business administration management, Rock Hill, South Carolina
Ximena Perez, sophomore, human nutrition, Cheraw, South Carolina
Bri Rae, senior, mathematics, Fort Mill, South Carolina
Antonio Santos, sophomore, computer science, Lancaster, South Carolina
Timothy Smith, sophomore, social studies education, Gaffney, South Carolina
Destinee Waddy, sophomore, exercise science, Charleston, South Carolina
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2404 or longshawj@winthrop.edu.
