Moving day can be a stressful occasion for anyone, especially when it involves living away from home for the first time.

That’s the situation for many of the 2,400 mostly first-year students who will be moving into Brock University’s on-campus residences Sunday, Sept. 1.

Move-In Day has become an annual tradition at Brock, when some 600 volunteers from the Brock University Students’ Union (BUSU), Brock athletic teams, student clubs and other groups help the thousands of incoming students move into their new homes.

In order to make the complex move work, each student and their family is given a one-hour window of move-in time between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday.

“Residence Move-In Day requires a great deal of planning and co-ordination,” said Jamie Fleming, Director of Residences. “Planning for the next year begins immediately following Move-In Day each year, when we seek suggestions and feedback about how we can improve. We know that making the day go as smoothly as possible is a great way for students to feel welcome in their home away from home.”

With construction taking place to modernize DeCew Residence, in addition to students moving into one of Brock’s seven on-campus residences, some incoming students will be moving into Lofts 9 (Building 9 at Foundry Lofts), located across from the Niagara Region headquarters on Schmon Parkway. Lofts 9 will be part of the Brock residence system for the next two years during the renovation at DeCew and will have a full team of Residence Life staff to provide the same level of support offered at all Brock residences.

Hundreds of Brock staff will be on hand Sunday and Monday to help make the students’ introduction to university life a bit easier. Departments and services such as Residences, Dining, Parking, IT Help Desk, Brock Card, Campus Store and the Walker Sports Complex will all be open various hours throughout the weekend.

Move-In Day is part of an exciting opening-of-term weekend for Brock students and kicks off the University’s Welcome Week activities. After moving in, students have their first meeting with their residence leaders and neighbours before BUSU hosts a fun, safe event in Weather Station Field Sunday night. The evening includes a paint party and a live burn demonstration, where students are taught about fire safety.

Because of the logistics required to move 2,400 students into residences, parking and access around the Brock campus will be limited Sunday. People visiting the University for other purposes — including those headed to Walker Sports Complex or outdoor athletic fields — are asked to park in Zone 1 and allow extra time to get in and out of campus.

The long weekend fun continues Monday, Sept. 2 with the annual Residence Summer Games from noon to 3 p.m., when hundreds of students compete alongside their housemates in a series of fun games in Weather Station Field. Monday night’s schedule includes live game shows, a comedy night and a concert organized by BUSU.