Hundreds of former UArts Unicorns begin the transition to their new home as Temple Owls

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Tuesday is the first move-in day for new students at Temple University. And this year, in addition to the incoming freshmen, Temple is making a new home for about 300 University of the Arts students who were displaced when the school abruptly closed last spring.

As a former UArts resident assistant and student, Haley Joyner said it was surreal to be at Temple on its move-in day as one of its new RAs.

“A few months ago, I would’ve never expected myself to be in the position that I am now, but I’m also very excited and optimistic.”

Joyner is one of two former UArts resident assistants joining Temple to help ease the transition for the 50 former UArts students who will be living on two designated floors in Johnson and Hardwick Halls.

“I’m very grateful I’m not in this alone,” Joyner said. “It was a very hard transition for us, but the fact that we’re still together and still making the most out of it, it means so much to me.”

The other former UArts resident assistant, Ryan Alise, says she was late to process the UArts closure, but now she’s ready to help her fellow Unicorns become Owls.

“We kind of feel like the small fish in a big school, and a lot of us are seniors and juniors and we feel like freshmen again. But to have the comfort of knowing there’s someone in leadership that was with you and is still with you — it’s comforting. It’s community. It’s still family, and I think that’s really important,” Alise said.

“It means that life still goes on, despite whatever happens.”

Of the roughly 300 former UArts students starting at Temple in the fall, 75 are living in its residence halls. Temple may not have been their initial choice, says Ryan Young, director of the university’s Office of Housing and Residential Life, but they are all a welcome part of the community.

“The opportunity for us to try to help ease that transition a little bit and give them a sense of belonging in a new space is really important.”

Alise has some advice for her fellow UArts transfer students as they start their new journeys: “Be open minded. Don’t be afraid. We’re Owls, but we’re still Unicorns at heart. We’ve got a lot to bring to this school, and this school has a lot to offer us.”