On Sept. 21 and 22, the University of Oregon had its move-in days, dubbed “Unpack the Quack.” These are traditionally the days when new students and freshmen enter their new on-campus dorms.
The university estimates that 4,500 students arrived across the two move-in days, in addition to ones who moved in early. Last fall, the university welcomed 5,348 new students –– the largest first-year class in the school’s history.
To ease congestion, streets near the university were restricted so that only students and families participating in move-in could access them. Students were also given assigned check-in times for their residence halls.
Mia Gabiglio, an art major who moved into Hamilton Hall, said that her move-in experience went exactly as she expected.
“My experience was pretty typical,” Gabiglio said. “I just wanted to throw all my stuff upstairs, you know, and do a little organization. And then, you know, tearful goodbyes with my parents.”
Gabiglio said that she and her family had some difficulty finding Hamilton; guides on campus, volunteers for Unpack the Quack, were unable to help.
Outside of that, Gabiglio said she feels great about meeting the neighbors in her new residence hall.
“I feel great,” she said. “I love meeting new people. I met a lot of friends at orientation, too, so it’s good.”
Destanie Olson, a psychology major who moved into Unthank Hall, was able to move in early with the PathwayOregon program at UO. She describes her move-in as “a lot easier” because she was able to move in earlier than other new students and was able to avoid a lot of the congestion in her building.
“Watching this move-in, the regular move-in, is crazy,” Olson said. “Like, the elevators are being manned so people can bring their stuff up, but a lot of people are just bringing their stuff up the stairs instead.”
Students, along with their families and boxes of belongings, were waiting in lines for several minutes outside the Unthank elevators.
Olson described issues with key cards and people she knew in her hall that were unable to leave their rooms because the door would lock behind them, unable to be opened again.
“My key card didn’t work,” she said. “I had to go to Global Scholars [Hall] and be like, ‘hey, can I get this fixed?’ and they fixed it, but I went back to my room, and it wouldn’t work again. So they had someone meet me up there so I could get to my room.”
Olson also said that it had been very easy to socialize with other people in the dorm. She said that she was able to meet and get to know other Pathway students that moved in early.
“I like to leave my door open,” she said. “Or if I walk past and see someone else’s door open, I stop and say hi. And there was a lot of mingling and events for [Pathway students]. It’s pretty easy to socialize.”
Whether or not the class of 2027 ends up being larger than the previous year, the addition of two new residence halls will likely only further encourage the university to keep growing its freshman admissions.
A man pushes a small child in a cart down the middle of the street. For the majority of students living on campus, fall move-in took place on Sept. 21 and 22, 2023. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)
