U of I kicks off Welcome Weekend with ‘Sights and Sounds’ event

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — First-year students at the University of Illinois got their first look at campus life Thursday night. Welcome Weekend kicked off with “U of I Sights and Sounds.”

The university will welcome one of its largest freshman classes to campus over the next couple of days. Illinois welcomed some into Memorial Stadium Thursday night to kick off the weekend. Students learned about campus organizations, school traditions, and met some campus leaders.

Vice President of Student Engagement Lauren Ravury said it’s a great way to introduce students to the campus community.

“Being a new student at the University of Illinois is really intimidating,” Ravury said. “It’s over 50,000 students. I think it’s a really, really big time in their life. They’re coming from high school. They have no idea. This is the first event where they can meet their new class, kind of be introduced to it. Even in my experience, I met people here who I’m still friends with today. It’s a really good experience. They really push kids out of their comfort zone and introduce them to all the amazing organizations that are here at U of I.”

She said more Welcome Weekend events will continue into this weekend and next week. For the full schedule, click here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.