Ohio Dominican offers incoming freshmen a unique welcome
COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Ohio Dominican University is welcoming new students to campus in a creative way.
ODU held a new student welcome drive-in on Sunday.
Adhering to social distancing guidelines, students arrived on campus in their cars while faculty and staff cheered, held signs, and handed out “welcome” gifts ahead of the fall semester.
Organizers came up with the idea about two months ago when they realized they wouldn’t be able to hold typical “welcome” events because of the pandemic.
“We’ve been really just playing it by ear, but we really wanted to make sure that we were able to put on a big event like this so we can really make sure that the freshmen feel like they’re getting the ODU welcome that they really deserve,” said ODU Career Coordinator Allison Grosick.
Grosick said a majority of the university’s nearly 200 freshmen are local students. For those who reside out of state, they received a personal phone call welcoming them to the school.
Fall semester begins Aug. 17 with a mix of in-person and online instruction.