CANYON, Texas — The spring semester at West Texas A&M University will begin Jan. 16, and new and returning students will be greeted with multiple activities and initiatives.
When classes resume Jan. 16, new and returning students will be welcomed on campus via separate initiatives from the Office for Student Affairs, the Alumni Association and non-academic sorority Beta Sigma Phi.
“The start of our spring 2024 semester renews our campus with excitement, dreams and energy,” said Dr. Chris Thomas, vice president for student affairs. “Students, faculty and staff are ready to begin working as we move toward achieving our goals with student belonging, engagement, and success at the heart of everything we do.”
WT faculty and staff will be out in full force across the Canyon campus and the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center for the campus greeter program.
Volunteers work 30-minute shifts between 6:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on both Jan. 16 and 17, helping make students feel welcome on campus, as part of WT’s Start Strong initiative.
“We know that those first two days of classes can be both challenging and exciting,” said Chance Haugen, assistant vice president for campus community and engagement. “Our faculty and staff love the opportunity that the campus greeter program affords them—to get in front of our students when they return to WT, answering any questions that they may have and welcoming them all back with a friendly smile.”
Though WT officially will be closed Jan. 15 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, current and retired WT staff and faculty will be taking part in a random act of kindness for students in need.
For a ninth year, members of Beta Sigma Phi will yarn-bomb the campus, leaving a few hundred hand-knitted scarves and caps around the Charles K. and Barbara Kerr Vaughan Pedestrian Mall and Old Main.
Each bears a note reading, “I’m not lost. If you’re cold, take me with you.”
“We don’t know how many people are out there who need of items like this, and our group is always very active in trying to help our community,” said Beth Vizzini, Cornette Library facilities manager and president of Beta Sigma Phi’s Xi Alpha Epsilon Phi chapter. “With the yarn bombing, we’re able to help our students and our neighbors through our members’ passion for knitting.”
Food-insecure students also may benefit from an ongoing holiday food drive organized by the WT Alumni Association.
Donations of nonperishable food items will be accepted through Jan. 19. They can be purchased locally or via a registry on Amazon, said Ronnie Hall, WT Alumni Association executive director.
Nearly 500 items have been donated since the drive began Dec. 11 for The Market on Tierra Blanca, a Canyon food bank at St. Helen’s Outreach, an arm of St. Ann’s Catholic Church
“Our holiday food drive is a great opportunity for Buff alumni to help combat food insecurity among our students,” said Ronnie Hall, executive director of the WT Alumni Association. “Through their generosity, our alumni will make a huge difference in the lives of our current students, showing them that Buffs are always there for other Buffs.”
Students also will have the opportunity to win necessities for the classroom and residences through Supplies Bingo, a game night organized by the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership. The event will begin at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 in Legacy Hall inside the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on the Canyon campus.
Students also can attend an education program about alcohol and drugs hosted by the WT Office of Community Standards at 4 p.m. Jan. 17, also in Legacy Hall.
Exhibiting qualities of servant leadership is a key principle of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised more than $150 million.
