AMHERST — The newest students to call UMass home came in waves on Thursday, hauling boxes, suitcases and other belongings into their new homes — the first of four move-in days that by the end of the weekend will swell the ranks of students living on campus to 14,000.
At Kennedy Hall, a high-rise tower in the Southwest Area of the campus, freshmen and their families were greeted by students chanting “Welcome to Kennedy, let’s go” and supplying smiles and applause.
As her vehicle was being unpacked and her personal effects were loaded into bins for escort to her room, freshman Myia Price of Pittsfield said she was ready to get the school year started.
“I’m looking forward to making friends and being independent,” said Price, who chose UMass both because of its good business program, where she will be pursuing marketing, and the experiences of acquaintances.
Price will have two roommates, whom she has met on Instagram and group chat, though move-in day would bring the excitement of seeing them in person for the first time.
Price is among about 14,000 students who will live on campus, including many of the 5,550 or so in the first-year class.
At the nearby Frank C. Moore House, a low-rise dormitory, the Heffernan family arrived from Newbury, getting a bag of snacks from UMass Dining, which recently earned accolades again for having the top campus food in the country.
“I was very impressed,” parent Maureen Heffernan said of the move-in operation.
After parking, the student-led Minute Movers put two large bins next to the vehicle and got everything inside them for the short trip to the dorm.
UMass was an easy choice for Maeve Heffernan.
“As soon as I got here, I loved the campus and I loved the food,” Heffernan said. She will be on the social and behavioral sciences exploratory track, with a focus on communications and political science, though she has no declared major yet.
Being from Newbury, Heffernan said she felt Amherst was a good distance from her home, and she put its appeal to her as “when you know, you know.”
She was also getting ready to meet her roommate, who would be arriving about 90 minutes later.
Kaleigh Simmons, a junior from Hatfield, was among the Minute Movers volunteers who, as a perk, are able to move into their campus housing two days early.
She explained that they learned what needed to be done from team leaders and training the day before, including moving the bins quickly to each vehicle as they pulled into parking spaces at the direction of cadets.
The volunteers then enter the building with students’ belongings during four-hour shifts, with some overlapping, beginning at 7 a.m. and concluding at 6 p.m. each day. The move-in operation continues through Saturday.
Simmons said she was seeing a lot of mini-fridges for the dorm rooms, with mostly normal stuff being brought, with the most unusual item spotted an ironing board that she anticipates will get no use.
She was surprised, though, to see few students bringing mattress toppers. “Those beds are uncomfortable,” Simmons said.
The class of 2026, according to UMass, ranks among the most diverse in the university’s history, with 36% of the class made up of ALANA, or students who identify as African-American, Latino and Hispanic, Asian-American, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander and Native American, and 16% of the class being underrepresented minority students. Female students account for 54% of the class.
Massachusetts students make up about two-thirds of the class, which is the second-largest first-year class ever, with 475 international students among the mix.
Welcome to the U events began Thursday, including the Frosh Fest, with musical performances, mini-golf, family rock painting, ice skating and more at the center of the campus, followed by the Kickoff Carnival with food, inflatables and music. Events were set to run through the weekend, with the new student convocation and the UFest happening on Sunday.
Unlike the days of old, when students and their families could wait several hours to get into the dorms, there were no complaints from parents who made the journey to UMass.
“They’re really organized,” said Kendra Price.
Maureen Heffernan said she has done move-ins twice before, and that UMass is by the largest university for any of her children.
“I’m impressed with how organized they are for the size of the school,” Heffernann said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
