First year students who observe Shabbat moved into residences early this year for the first time.
Queen’s Hillel, an organization for Jewish students, worked in partnership with University administration to secure an early move-in date for students observing Shabbat on Sept. 1. The change allowed students to fully participate in all the move-in day activities over the weekend.
“You miss out on all that stuff, like the first day at school and moving in with everybody else,” Campus Director of Queen’s Hillel Yos Tarshish said in an interview with The Journal.
For observing Jewish families, activities such as driving long distances, exchanging money, or using electricity aren’t meant to be done during Shabbat. In the past, students observing Shabbat moved in after other students, leading families to reach out to Hillel to advocate for change.
Sixty students opted for early move-in, according to Hillel.
The following day on Sept. 2, another 4,600 students moved into 17 residences across Queen’s campuses. For most first-years, move-in marked their first time away from home, which was accompanied by a rollercoaster of emotions.
“It was a pretty decent day, it was just very overwhelming. All the people, moving into a new place, and saying goodbye to my family was definitely hard,” Lauren Sayr, ConEd ’28, said in an interview with The Journal.
Unlike previous years, the University organized for first-years to pick up keys at Richardson Stadium to minimize COVID-19 stress associated with close contact. Sayr told The Journal her move-in ran smoothly, from volunteers helping her with bags to limited traffic on the way in, but the highlight was meeting new people.
“I really liked that on the day I met everyone on my floor because I made friends that night,” Sayr said.
Both University and student volunteers mobilized for move-in. The Residence Society (ResSoc) had 21 volunteers helping students move in, answering first year’s questions, and selling t-shirts.
“Move-in day is my favorite day of the academic year,” ResSoc President Nathan Beckner-Stetson said in an interview with The Journal.
Beckner-Stetson understands move-in day can be a “stressful time” and wanted to help first-years feel more comfortable on their first day at Queen’s.
“It’s important for us to start things off on the right foot with first year students and also get them engaged with their communities so they can have a good year moving forward,” Beckner-Stetson said.
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First-years, hillel, Jewish, move in day, Residence
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