Wellesley Welcomes First-Year Students and Their Families on Move-In Day

Move-in day for first-year students is always memorable. This year, the hundreds of students and their families converging on campus August 28 contended with an unexpected element: temperatures well above 90 degrees and extreme humidity.

At 8 a.m., the first vehicles loaded with school supplies, clothing, and dorm furniture pulled up outside resident halls and were greeted by staff and student volunteers who were on hand to keep the process moving along.

Outside Stone-Davis Hall, John Cox, of Falmouth, Mass., stood by a stack of boxes filled with items that will get his daughter, Rebecca ’22, through the school year. “We managed to get everything into the car,” said Cox. “It’s hectic, but it’s survivable.”

A few feet away were Harland and Bethany Sonderling of Newton, Mass., who, along with their two younger daughters, were moving in oldest daughter, Eliana ’22. As she sorted through the boxes, Bethany Sonderling said she would “spend only a few minutes in Eliana’s room and let her set it up the way she wants. I won’t offer my opinions.”

At Freeman Hall, Catherine Wood ’86, of Pasadena, Calif., stood with Virginia ’22, one of her two daughters who will be attending Wellesley this year. Her older daughter, Marney ’21, is a sophomore transfer student. “This is a very exciting day—three Wellesley women in the same household,” she said.

Virginia is looking forward to the year. “I’m really feeling good,” she said. “I’ve anticipated being here, and I’m all set.”

Tom and Laurel Webster, from Tacoma, Wash., were dropping off their daughter, Abby ’22. They said the already hectic day was all the more trying because of the heat. “This is not weather that we’re used to,” he said.

Weather notwithstanding, “This is where I want to be,” Abby said. “It’s a bit overwhelming at first but it’s still exciting. It takes a while to settle in, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Mackenzie Weatherly ’22 was enthusiastic after meeting her roommate at Bates Hall. She mentioned an exciting pre-Wellesley experience in her hometown of Chicago in April: a book-signing event for Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Korbel Albright ’59. “She signed my book, ‘Mackenzie Class of ’22.’ I was thrilled,” she said.

Also at Bates, Parker Piscitello-Fay ’22, of San Francisco, was happy to have arrived on campus. “I looked at other places, and after my visit here, this is the one place I dreamed about attending,” she said.