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Athletics Arts & Culture Campus & Community People Research
Athletics Arts & Culture Campus & Community People Research
Campus & Community

Settling Into Terp Territory

Students Make Maryland Home During Move-In

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Photos by Stephanie S. Cordle and John T. Consoli

More than 9,600 undergraduates moved into UMD residence halls from Thursday through Sunday in preparation for a new academic year—and for the nearly 5,500 first-year students, a new way of life.

Spruced-up rooms awaited many incoming Terps, with summer upgrades like new carpeting, paint, appliances and furnishings in several locations. One building, Dorchester Hall, reopened after a nine-month renovation.

Now that the parents have driven off and the initial chaos has passed, it’s time to get settled, get acquainted with new neighbors and get ready for the semester.

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Freshmen and roommates Ruijie Zheng of China and Mason Maddox of Catonsville, Md., greet each other as Maddox’s mother, Angela Lamas, helps during move-in at Centreville Hall on Thursday. 
Mike Chan, left, helps his son, freshman Steven Chan, both of Cherry Hill, N.J., move into Cumberland Hall on Friday. 
Freshman Margaret Hayden, of Ellicott City, Md., center right, and her sister Faith Hayden, center left, balance a mini fridge as they wait for an elevator in Ellicott Hall on Friday.
Parents help unload student belongings outside Ellicott Hall on Friday. 
Students move in to Cumberland Hall on Friday. 
Students greet President Wallace D. Loh and ask for selfies and turtle pins at the New Student Welcome at Xfinity Center on Friday.
Students line up for barbecue—free food!—after the New Student Welcome on Friday.
First-year students mingle and greet friends at the barbecue after the New Student Welcome at Xfinity Center on Friday.
On College Park Scholars’ Service Day, freshmen volunteer at Eco City Farms on Friday. More than 1,000 UMD first-year students spent their first day at Maryland improving the community. They did work at 23 sites, including painting murals at local elementary schools, sorting diapers at a diaper bank, and weeding and beautifying parks.
Freshman Lesly Zouantcha from Germantown, Md., volunteers at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens, helping clean up the pond during College Park Scholars’ Service Day on Friday.

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