Wesleyan Welcomes the Class of 2013 to Campus

Noah Klein-Markman ’13 learned his first lesson at Wesleyan 20 minutes after arriving on campus.

“I already lost the key,” he said, carrying in two armloads of belongings. “I think I left the key inside the room.”

Klein-Markman, of Berkley, Calif., was one of the first students to move into the Butterfield Residence Hall during the Class of 2013 Arrival Day Sept. 1. He joined more than 800 other first-year, transfer, exchange and visiting students in the class.

His mother, Laura Klein ’78; father Henry Markman; and brother Sam Klein-Markman assisted Noah with the early morning move. The family dog, Bruno, guarded the family’s rental car parked on Huber Ave.

Although Laura Klein graduated from Wesleyan in 1978, she doesn’t remember much about her son’s new residence.

“I lived over on William Street, and I don’t think I ever stepped foot in the Butterfields before,” she said while locking Noah’s bike to a rack. “Campus sure looks different now. There are lots of new buildings.”

An hour later, Robert Vance ’13 of Birmingham, Ala., began his move-in adventure by carrying a 45-pound boxed refrigerator to the third floor of the Butterfield complex. He was accompanied by his mother, Joyce White Vance, and Residential Life assistant Daniel Verdejo ’12.

“The punchline was that the fridge had a bent frame and broken door, so it had to come back down from the third floor, returned to Target, and the replacement carried up late in the day,” says Joyce. “It was a memorable (arrival) day!”

Other students had better luck on Arrival Day. Augustin Vita ’13 of Washington, D.C. drove to Middletown the night before, arrived on campus at 9 a.m. and unpacked most of his belongings by 10 a.m. Within the hour, he had set up his refrigerator, microwave, made his bed and organized items in neatly stacked plastic bins, lodged under his bed.

“(Moving in) is a lot of fun. It’s going good,” he said.

Alexia Nazarian ’13 of New Jersey moved into West College with help from her mother, Vera. Before unpacking, she met her new roommate, Anna Swartz ’13.

“We’re unpacking, just made the bed, figuring out how much space I have,” Nazarian said. “I’m figuring out if I can move the desk around to see how I can make more space even though it’s a pretty big room.”

Once students settled into their new home-away-from-home, they picked up informational packets, obtained their new student ID card, attended a Class of 2013 picnic and listened to remarks made my President Michael S. Roth ’78. An outdoor reception concluded Arrival Day activities.

More PHOTOS and VIDEOS of Arrival Day are online here.

View additional photos and videos on the Wesleyan Facebook site.