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Welcome Week kicked off Monday, Aug. 18, with the Amazing Arthur & Ice Cream Social.
The Amazing Arthur, a comedian with multiple talents, performed magic tricks, juggled, yo-yoed, and hypnotized students as they enjoyed free ice cream.
Tuesday, students enjoyed a good old-fashioned drive-in movie in Parking Lot C outside of the Millennium Student Center.
On Wednesday, over 50 booths were set up in the quad for "UMSL Expo" from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Thursday, students packed the Pilot House for some UM-St. Louis barbeque. Not only was there free food, but also great performances by Common Folk and Fusion the Band.
One of the biggest bashes of the week was on Friday, Aug. 22. This is when the University Program Board threw its annual MTV Beach Party in Oak Hall.
The party was held from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. and was the last of the University Program Board's Welcome Week events.
This event, like the others during Welcome Week, celebrated the return of old students and the arrival of new ones to UMSL.
"We always strive to have fun with our events and we believe that this party envelops that. [In] previous years, this event has been the end of the week highlight event," said Antionette Dickens, senior, media studies, and UPB Advertising and Marketing Chair.
Since May 2008, the University Program Board had been planning the event. The main purpose of the party was to make sure everyone who showed up had fun.
"We have worked long and hard to make sure that we maintained the tradition of the beach party but also added our own vision for this event. We had not only the University Program Board working the event, but also Residential Life staff, Resident Assistants, the Office of Student Life Staff and some student volunteers," Dickens said.
The party had a Hawaiian theme and included hula dancers, a mechanical bull, and free food and drinks.
"We wanted to focus more on a theme for the party, as opposed to just advertising the party as MTV-focused. We still brought in MTV Real World: Key West's Jose and Paula as our hosts, but we did not advertise the event as such," said Dickens.
Throughout the event, a number of contests were held, including a pie eating contest and bull riding contest. Contest prizes included an iPod Nano and a gift card.
"As far as compared to previous years, there was around the same amount of students as every year. We had about 300 to 350 students," said Dickens.
While the party seemed like a success judging by the number of people, many left early and some students said that it was not as fun as they were expecting.
"Everyone was making such a big deal of the party all week long so I expected something bigger. I guess I thought it would be more like a club," said Linh Chau, Junior, Business. "But I have to say that it did pick up once the music started and people started dancing."
"Overall, the party was very successful. Everyone enjoyed themselves, the activities and our hosts. I am very happy that this is an annual event at UMSL," said Dickens. "I look forward to next year's beach party."
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