Purdue, West Lafayette to welcome students living off campus
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - For the 11th consecutive year, volunteers from Purdue University and the city of West Lafayette will go around the New Chauncey and Northwestern Heights neighborhoods on Tuesday (Aug. 23) evening to meet students living off campus and welcome them to West Lafayette and Purdue.
"This is a wonderful tradition that welcomes students living off campus and shows them they are a valued and vital part of both the Purdue and West Lafayette communities," said Melissa Exum, vice president for student affairs. "Our goal is to meet students face-to-face as they move into their new neighborhoods and ease their transition into the community.
Brett Highley, president of Purdue Student Government, said "Meet and Greet" is a positive way to kick off the new academic year.
"The volunteers and the students benefit equally from this event," Highley said. "Meet and Greet is an important first step in building relationships and a sense of community."
Volunteers will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Purdue Visitors' Information Center on Northwestern Avenue. Each volunteer will get a gold Meet and Greet T-shirt, a street map of the near-campus neighborhoods showing student residences, and door hangers with information about Purdue and West Lafayette that they will leave at each residence they visit, Exum said.
Volunteers will then divide into small teams and walk around the neighborhoods to make their visits.
Meet and Greet is arranged jointly by the Purdue University and West Lafayette Community Partnership teams. Exum is the chair of the Purdue team and Highley is a member of the group.
"The main purpose of the teams is to work together to build on the strong relationship between Purdue and the city of West Lafayette," said Beverly Shaw, chair of the West Lafayette team and marketing and grants administrator for West Lafayette.
"Those of us already here know that West Lafayette and Purdue are great places to be," Mayor John Dennis said. "We want to share that sense of pride in our community with students who may be new to West Lafayette."
Meet and Greet is open to any West Lafayette resident and Purdue community member who wants to volunteer.
Writer: Brian Zink, 765-494-2080, bzink@purdue.edu
Sources: Melissa Exum, 765-494-5776, exum@purdue.edu
Brett Highley, 765-494-7201, bhighley@purdue.edu
Beverly Shaw, 765-775-5161, bshaw@westlafayette.in.gov
John Dennis, 765-775-5100, mayor@westlafayette.in.gov