As students in Emory’s Class of 2023 arrive on campus this week, they will be greeted by hundreds of faculty, staff and fellow students who will devote thousands of hours to helping them move luggage, settle in and feel at home.

Admitted from a record-setting 30,372 applicants, the 1,856 students in the undergraduate Class of 2023 come from all around the world, ready to take the next steps in their academic journeys.

“We do our best to identify students who will make the most of the academic and other opportunities Emory has, and I believe the group of students we admit is incredibly talented, engaged and diverse in a way that is hard to find anywhere else,” says John Latting, associate vice provost for enrollment and Emory’s dean of admission.

Emory University offers two unique starting points for prospective first-year students: they may apply to enter Emory College of Arts and Sciences on the Atlanta campus or to study for their first two years at Oxford College, on Emory’s original campus in Oxford, Georgia. After the sophomore year, all students complete their undergraduate degree on the Atlanta campus through Emory College, Goizueta Business School or the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.

On the Atlanta campus, the excitement began Tuesday with the arrival of international students and first-year students participating in pre-orientation programs. Most of the 1,382 incoming first-year Emory College students move in on Saturday, when they begin the four-day orientation experience — an introduction that ranges from meeting academic advisers to practice for Songfest, the traditional competition between residence halls. Transfer students and continuing students from Oxford College also move in Saturday, with returning Emory students arriving Sunday.

Oxford College will welcome 474 first-year students. International students moved in Aug. 17, and most first-year students move in and begin new student orientation on Friday, where the schedule includes the always amusing Oxford Olympics. Sophomores at Oxford move in Tuesday, Aug. 27, in preparation for the first day of classes on Aug. 28.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Class of 2023! These students have distinguished themselves as scholars and significant contributors in their communities,” says Kelley Lips, dean of enrollment services for Oxford College. “They are poised to do good work and we are looking forward to experiencing their impact at Oxford.”

On both campuses, students will join in a Coca-Cola Toast, a tradition that will be echoed four years from now, when they come together for a farewell toast as seniors. At Oxford, the toast will be Friday at 4:45 p.m., while on the Atlanta campus, students and their families will raise their sodas on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., following a new event: QuadFest, a social that begins at 3:30 p.m. when incoming students and their families are invited to get to know some of their new campus mates.

The entire Class of 2023, including students from both colleges, will assemble Sunday, Aug. 25, at 4:45 p.m. for a class photo on the Emory Quadrangle. The gathering will feature remarks from Emory President Claire E. Sterk, Emory College Dean Michael A. Elliott and Oxford College Dean Douglas A. Hicks.

For more information, see the schedules for Emory College Orientation and Oxford College Orientation. 

Creating a smooth transition

While Campus Life and other leaders on both campuses have spent months preparing to welcome new students to the collegiate experience, staff members across multiple divisions have been preparing the physical campus for the arrival of the Class of 2023.

The entire Emory Campus Services staff — over 800 employees — strives to make each campus shine by the time students return. 

Matthew Early, vice president for Campus Services, says staff have been performing last-minute maintenance on buildings, including classrooms and residence halls, and grounds, cutting grass and tidying up, on all of Emory’s campuses. 

“There’s a script that everybody follows. It’s a well-oiled machine,” Early says.

On the Atlanta campus, the new Emory Student Center — still undergoing finishing touches —“will serve as a central welcome center for our students and their families throughout the week, staffed with trained volunteers and staff members ready to assist with directions, answer questions and connect students and families with campus resources,” notes David Clark, associate vice president of Campus Life.

The Dobbs Common Table, located in the student center, will host a welcoming lunch on Saturday for an expected 3,000 guests, including new students and their families, and the EmoryCard Office will have a satellite location in the student center for easy access.

At Oxford, a new student center is also under construction, expected to open in early 2020.