Colonial Inauguration gives the incoming first-year students and transfers their first opportunity to experience the George Washington University and aids in their transition from life at home to college life. The first group of incoming students comes to GW on Monday.
Kendra Scott, coordinator of new student programs for the Student Support and Family Engagement Office at GW, said that the Colonial Inauguration explains what it means to be a GW student while helping incoming students set their expectations on selecting classes and academic rigor. This also means introducing the incoming class to on-campus resources.
Colonial Inauguration—or CI—emphasizes GW’s focus on “students first” and lets the incoming students know that it’s all right to ask for support whenever they need it during the adjustment to college life.
“After attending an orientation session, we want incoming students to feel connected and a sense of belonging, whether with a peer, a faculty or staff member or an organization,” Ms. Scott said. “Ultimately, that connection is what brings them back in August even more excited and motivated for what lies ahead."
The incoming students will have an opportunity to learn about different aspects of the GW experience through a university services fair, information sessions, faculty panel, academic advising workshops and course registration prep. The students also will engage in group activities to help them get to know their classmates.
There will be six sessions from June 11-29 for new first-year students and two additional sessions August 23-24 for first-year and transfer students.
This year, the program will have a session called “Navigating the University” to help familiarize the students with how GW operates and answer questions about how dining works, what their GWorld card is used for and where to go with financial aid questions. There also will be a session on holistic wellness that includes tips on budgeting during their first college semester.
Students who will live on the Mount Vernon Campus in the fall will spend time during CI at the campus during a dinner in Pelham Commons, which will be followed by residential community meetings. There will be similar programming for students who will live on the Foggy Bottom Campus.
Colonial Inauguration’s “GW Skits” will emphasize inclusivity and the importance of living GW’s core values. The incoming students will have the opportunity to discuss the skits in small group meetings led by the student leaders in the Colonial Cabinet.
CI headquarters staff this year includes Dom Reynoso, a junior studying English, and Caroline Tounget, a senior studying political communications. They work to coordinate Colonial Inauguration and implement the various programming.
"One of the best parts about this program is that it is led by current GW students,” Ms. Tounget said. “Our goal is to start the process of peer mentorship from the moment they step on campus in order to lay the foundation for building community and finding success during their time at GW."
