The first day of classes for the academic year 2009-2010 has finally arrived, and I am so excited to see so many familiar faces and so many new ones. Our new and returning students have been welcomed all across campus, and the new year has officially begun with our students heading off to classes.

All I can say is welcome home!

I really enjoyed watching everyone from the numerous different campus and community organizations fill the Quad and Founder’s Circle Monday as Bradley University’s annual Activities and Volunteer Fair informed our students about the many different groups they can join.

Bianca Jones (left), a junior, and Jen Jones (right), director of Athletic Academic Services, help freshman Eric Nguyen register for classes. Eric will be playing on the men’s tennis team.

Well, the start of the new academic year is almost here, and I’m so excited. Our campus family continues to help incoming freshmen tie up all of their loose ends before school starts on Wednesday. The final orientation session for freshmen was held at the end of last week with the incoming students registering for their first semester of classes on our campus.

The tables and chairs may be empty in the cafeterias and food court at Williams and Geisert halls right now, but they won’t stay that way for long. Soon, our hungry students will flock to the areas in search of their next meal.

In fact, I heard Ron Gibson, our director of Campus Dining Services, tell someone that our three campus cafeterias and two food courts combined feed 5,000 students, faculty, and staff daily. That’s a lot of hungry people!

I’m guessing things aren’t changing too much at the Student Center cafeteria, since it is open year-round. I have seen a steady stream of folks heading that way over the summer months. Even the Student Center food court stayed open this summer. Still, Bob Kelch, manager of Student Center Dining/Catering, was talking about ordering more food and other items, especially soda, for his customers.

The Williams food court has proven to be a popular spot to eat, and over the summer, the seating area was expanded. The cafeterias at Williams and Geisert were pretty quiet over the summer. I’m sure we’ll see food service delivery trucks making frequent rounds soon.

Sally Wecker, Geisert manager; Johnnie Leemon, Williams manager; and Bob agree that one of the hottest food items at BU, chicken tenders, are sure to be on their orders. We didn’t have those in my day, nor did we have other popular items like hot wings and pizza. I heard Sally tell another member of the Bradley family that our students ate 320 pounds of hot wings and 250 pounds of chicken tenders in one night last year. No wonder our food service staff stays busy all of the time.

Top photo: Students Rambabu Bu (left) and Santosh Kolluri help Geisert Hall Cafeteria manager Sally Wecker move a table. At left: Bradley student Sricharan Muppala helps prep Williams Hall Cafeteria for the influx of students.

I’m simply amazed at all the training our residence hall staff undergoes before our students move in. This morning, Todd Wright from Getz Fire Equipment was on hand to teach our new assistant RAs about extinguishing fires. Campus photographer Duane Zehr took this photo of sophomore Kelly Short, who will be an ARA in Heitz Hall, putting out a fire. Each person at the training not only watched, but took a turn using the fire extinguisher. That’s something everyone should do, but how many really do train on this equipment?

Ryan Bair, director of residential living, has been busy training our 11 hall directors and 90 RAs and ARAs, and making sure his staff knows what to do in all sorts of emergency situations. The hall directors returned to campus nearly two weeks ago to begin their training; the rest of the residence hall staff joined them about a week ago for further training.

I am impressed with all that Ryan does to train these students. You never know what situation might arise, so our residence hall staff learns about mental health issues, maintenance situations, roommate conflicts, procedures for changing rooms, and resources available on campus. These resources include tutoring, the Smith Career Center, health and counseling services, Greek life, and so much more. They even receive training about the Bradley student judicial system so they can be adjudicators for student issues in residence halls. With all this responsibility, it’s important that the staff work together well, so several bonding activities are part of the training process, too.

Move-in Day is quickly approaching, and these young leaders are eagerly anticipating the arrival of students on their floors. It’s reassuring to know they have received such outstanding training.