Students move back into Oakland

Lindsay Jones and her family reached Forbes Avenue at 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning to move into… Lindsay Jones and her family reached Forbes Avenue at 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning to move into the freshman’s new school-year home.

Her family left Philadelphia on Monday and stayed at the Mariott Hotel on Bigelow Boulevard overnight so that she could be the first to move her three loads of items onto Holland’s sixth floor.

About 500 student volunteers worked for Pitt’s Arrival Survival this week to help incoming thousands of students and their parents move the Panthers’ possessions from their vehicles to their dormitories starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday through Friday.

A few additional students trickled in, suitcases in hand, over the weekend as well.   

On Tuesday, Forbes and Fifth Avenues remained gridlocked with cars as large blue carts rumbled down the sidewalk in front of the William Pitt Union.

And then there was an earthquake.

People on campus felt the 5.8 magnitude earthquake, centered in Virginia, just before 2 p.m. on Tuesday. However, even the earth shaking did not shake up freshman move-in.

“Move-in did not halt for a second,” said Ashley Whoolery, Arrival Survival volunteer. She was helping conduct traffic when a police officer got word of the quake.

“We had no idea, couldn’t even feel it,” the sophomore said.

The annual move-in week snarled traffic and shut down roads throughout Oakland as Pitt’s new freshman class of more than 3,000 moved into the dormitories, followed by upperclassmen on Thursday and Friday. About 40 percent of Pitt’s 15,000 students live on campus, and most moved in last week.

As a result of the rapid influx of returning students, Pitt’s Department of Parking and Transportation shut down Bigelow Boulevard, Lothrop Street and University Drive B. All roads were reopened by Friday.

On the first move-in day, Shawn Brooks, director of Residence Life, stood in the center of Schenley Quad observing the free food and festivities for the newcomers.

“It’s going really, really smoothly,” he said, glad that the previous week’s power outage didn’t repeat itself. “Can you imagine if the power would’ve been out?”

Brooks said cars began lining up on Forbes and Fifth Avenues as early as 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“Some of them are kind of cranky from waiting, but for the most part it’s not bad,” junior Arrival Survival volunteer Emily Eagleton said.

Eagleton also directed traffic on Fifth Avenue during her shift. She said the team of students lining the road in neon yellow Arrival Survival shirts occasionally knocked on car windows welcoming the new students to the University.

“They all seem eager to talk to us,” she said.

Sophomore volunteer Eva Fitch said she heard some complaints about traffic, but most of the parents and students in attendance were overpowered with excitement and curiosity.

“It’s tough, but everyone is happy to be here,” she said.

On the hill, few complaints were heard about the move-in days.

Freshman Chyna Golden moved into the sixth floor of Sutherland East on Wednesday afternoon.

Golden stayed on campus for a portion of the summer to train with Pitt’s women’s basketball team. She said she kept most of her items in storage in preparation for her August move-in and the rest were put into bins and driven from New Jersey.

“We had no problems with the elevators,” she said, joking that moving in with her father would have been less than pleasant if the elevators had malfunctioned.

Sitting outside of Panther Hall, sophomore Richard Michel moved in last Sunday because he volunteered with Arrival Survival.

“It wasn’t bad at all,” he said of the early move.

“This one was less crazy,” Michel said about his move-in this year in comparison to moving in to Sutherland his freshman year.

His favored packing method? Suitcases and duffel bags.

“Anything that’s easy to carry,” he said.

After just two trips and 20 minutes from the car to his ground floor dorm room, Michel was all moved in.