There was excitement and anticipation in the air this past August as members of the University of Vermont Honors College Class of 2015 arrived in Burlington and began moving into their first college dorm room. The first year students were excited to meet their roommates, unpack their belongings, and get ready for their first weekend of college. But even as students excitedly met resident advisors, professors and new friends, talk always veered to Hurricane Irene, the massive storm that was looming south of Vermont.
While Irene was kind enough to delay its landfall until students were settled in and parents had driven home, the storm's forecast had already wreaked havoc on UVM's plans for opening weekend. Welcoming events, many of which were planned to be outside, were cancelled. Convocation and the traditional twilight ceremony on the University Green was also cancelled.
The storm hit Vermont on Sunday, August 28, two days after move-in. The gusting wind and unrelenting rainfall caused the most severe flooding the state had seen in almost a century. The devastation in central and southern Vermont was heartbreaking-farms were flooded, businesses were destroyed, and many towns are just beginning to rebuild-but the damage in Burlington and on the UVM campus was minimal.
While it was an odd start to the year for the first year Honors College students, they did have plenty of bonding time during their first weekend on campus. On Saturday, August 27, first year Honors College students gathered in the Fleming Museum for their traditional welcoming event with faculty. Dean Abu Rizvi greeted the students, who were then broken up into groups based on their Honors College class. After introductions, each group did a scavenger hunt in through several of the museum's collections. Honors College professors worked with students as they studied the artwork and then presented their findings to the group.
After the scavenger hunt, first year students were introduced to their Peer Leader . The Peer Leaders and the students then went off to the next activity as clouds started to build up over Burlington. The storm would hit later that night. In addition to the rainfall on Sunday, President John Bramley announced that classes would be cancelled that Monday. It was another surprising event in what had been an unpredictable start to the semester. But the extra time enabled first year Honors College students to have more time to get to know their dorm, their classmates, and begin to get to feel at home in University Heights North.