‘Welcome to Your New Home’: Move-in With These First-Year Students

This August, we welcomed 1,606 new students to Georgetown.

Students came from 48 states and 52 countries around the world, walking, driving and flying to their new home in Washington, DC.

Over the past week, we celebrated students during our New Student Convocation, at barbecues on our Capitol Campus and Hilltop, in residences and in quiet moments in between.

As Soyica Diggs Colbert (C’01), interim provost, said at convocation, “There’s work to be done here — lots of it — but we hope and expect it will be joyful. Welcome to your new home.”

Here’s what move-in looked like across campuses.

A student holds a sign that says "Vroom Vroom!" next to another cheering student and a student in a unicorn costume — *Photo by Elman Studio.*

3, 2, 1 … Hoya Saxa!

A student smiles as she walks into Georgetown's front gates carrying bags while students cheer her on — *Photos by Elman Studio.*

A student pushes a cart of luggage — *Photos by Elman Studio.*

Hoyas arrived on our Hilltop Campus

From Aug. 21-22, first-year students and transfer students moved into their new stomping grounds in our Georgetown neighborhood.

Two students stare out their dorm room window at skyscrapers — *Photo by Elman Studio.*

and into our residence on the Capitol Campus

55 H St., located a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol and Union Station, is home to undergraduate and graduate students studying on our downtown campus.

A student and her parents unpack bags in her new apartment — *Photos by Elman Studio.*

A student smiles while holding a rectangular box and getting off an elevator — *Photos by Elman Studio.*

Students made their rooms feel like home (with a lot of help!),

Two students look at two rows of frames laid on a bed

A father puts together a stand in a dorm hallway — *Photos by Elman Studio.*

A student smiles as she places a block sign that says "Stress Free Zone" on a shelf in her dorm room — *Photos by Elman Studio.*

met new friends,

Two men shake hands in a dorm hallway — *Photo by Elman Studio.*

and the staff who make Georgetown feel like home.

Every student residence is home to a full team who supports students – including 20+ residential ministers from a variety of faith backgrounds who live alongside and accompany students.

A woman smiles while stirring a pot on the stove — *Janaki Bloch, a residential minister in Hayden Hall, welcomes students moving in.*

A group of students and parents meet Georgetown's Interim President Robert M. Groves — *Photo by Elman Studio.*

A group of staff and a chaplain smile together around a table — *Photo by Elman Studio.*

We took some time for R&R …

Jack the Bulldog lays on his back in the grass with his paws in the air — *Photo by Elman Studio.*

before officially welcoming the Class of 2029 to Georgetown

Georgetown’s New Student Convocation marks the official start of students’ academic journeys. Hoyas heard from Interim President Robert M. Groves and Isra Satiar (H’26), a senior who encouraged students to reach out for support and be open to new paths during their four years.

“You are meant to be lifted here. By professors who care deeply about your learning, by mentors who will see potential in you before you see it in yourself, by friends who will walk through the highs and lows. … Georgetown became my home, and I promise it will become home for you, too.”

A woman wearing a hijab and a black graduation gown smiles from behind a podium — *Isra Satiar (H’26) is this year’s recipient of the Thomas P. McTighe Prize, which is awarded to a student selected to address the opening convocation.*

Georgetown's Interim President Robert M. Groves smiles in an academic robe as he walks down the center of an aisle at convocation — *(Left) Interim President Robert M. Groves and (right) first-year students at New Student Convocation.*

A group of students sing while looking at a booklet — *(Left) Interim President Robert M. Groves and (right) first-year students at New Student Convocation.*

Oh, and we cheered on our Hoyas, explored DC and celebrated our community.

We ushered in the start of the new academic year with barbecues on our Hilltop and Capitol Campuses, tours of Washington, DC, landmarks and the Mass of the Holy Spirit before the first day of classes.