By 7:20 p.m. on Sunday some 1,800 of this year’s University of Wisconsin-Whitewater freshmen students had arrived to participate in “Hawkfest,” according to volunteers operating the event’s checkin table.
While the event, which operated between 6:30 and 8 p.m., was mandatory for freshmen, it attracted purple-clad students of all variety, many of whom were on hand to assist the freshmen in getting established on campus.
This 2023-24 school year, the university has welcomed approximately 1,900 freshmen, a representative at the school’s admissions office booth said.
Volunteers manning the booth were busy placing airbrush tattoos on eager Warhawks. A line of students waiting for their turn to receive the artwork stretched across a blocked off section of Graham Street on campus where the orientation event took place.
With more than 30 booths available for students to visit, lines converged at various points along the roadway, as students gathered to receive information, made their way through the crowd, or stopped to dance. Booths and tables each were operated by a campus organization or community vendor ready to provide service-related handouts and myriad free gifts, ranging from food to frisbees.
Community-based organizations and businesses at the event included the city of Whitewater, Downtown Whitewater, Inc., ReVamp Nutrition, Bleu’s Barbershop, The Sweet Spot, and Associated Bank, among others.
Tunes, spun by DJ Tommy Jewell of Sound and Light Incorporated, rocked the block as students, “Willie the Warhawk,” and UW-Whitewater Chancellor Corey King, took time, while pursuing the booths and interacting with new students, to dance in the street.
Several students at the event said they had moved into their dormitories on Saturday and were anticipating that campus would be in full swing after Labor Day.
Photos from the event follow.