Coastal Carolina University gets infusion of freshmen

At Coastal Carolina University, shuttles ferried students and parents across campus Friday morning.

It was move-in day, and cars lined the streets near the freshman residence halls while other volunteer students in teal shirts known as the “Chanticrew” helped the freshmen unload their gear, including TVs, refrigerators, gaming devices, computers and clothes.

“There are about 4,300 total students moving in over the course of the weekend,” said Steve Harrison, director of student housing. Between 1,500 and 2,000 are freshman students.

Students living in residence halls make up a little over 40 percent of the student body, he said.

At Traditions Hall, Sharon Vereen was dropping off her daughter Alexandra.

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” she said. “I know it’s a positive thing because she’s going to college, but she’s my baby girl so it’s kind of bittersweet in that it will be sad that she’s not going to be at home every night. But I know she’s close to home, so it’ll be a good experience for her living on campus.”

Alexandra Vereen, a biology major who want to be a pediatrician, said she was excited about being away from home.

“It’s going to be really different, I’m kind of excited about that,” she said.

She wasn’t the only freshman ready for the independence.

“My parents are up in New Jersey,” said Benny Kern, a finance major. “They want to move down here now because they see how beautiful it is, but I don’t want them to, I want to stay here by myself. I think it’s going to be a great four years and I’m really excited for what the future holds for me and what future of Coastal Carolina is going to be.”

Kern said he was never interested in class in high school, but he’s excited about living his own life at Coastal.

“This is my life now,” he said. “I’m not living my parents life, I’m not living my teacher’s life, I’m living my life. I get to decide where I go, when I go and I’m going to do my best to get my 4.0 GPA.”

At Coastal Carolina, all freshmen are required to live in the residence halls unless they get a waiver.

“There are a lot of national studies that show, year in and year out, that students who live in residence halls are more engaged in the campus culture, and students who are more engaged in the campus culture are more successful academically,” said Debbie Conner, vice president for campus life and student engagement.

A 2010 research paper published in the Journal of Urban Education found that “those who live on campus also have significantly higher GPAs” than students at the same school living off campus with family.

“There are even studies that show that students who live in residence halls are scoring higher not only on their GPA, but scoring higher on their entrance exams for graduate school and those type of things,” said Conner. “So we know that students living in the residence halls, it really sets them up for success for their college career and beyond.”

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina University gets infusion of freshmen."