UNLV welcomes about 1,900 students to dorms for new school year
Tina Chang had a mattress pad under one arm and a blue bass guitar under the other.
She hopped in the elevator with the items on the way to her daughter’s dorm room. It was a conventional sight at UNLV on freshman move-in day, but the way Chang and her daughter passed the time on their road trip to campus was less conventional.
“I played all these serial killer shows on the way so she could learn how to take care of herself,” Chang said. “We didn’t watch it; we just listened to all those shows about psychopaths. I wanted her to be prepared.”
Daughter Juniper Pellicane, who plans to study biology, wasn’t sure about her mother’s strategy but was sure about her choice of university.
“My older friend goes here, so she told me about it and I came and visited, and I really, really liked it,” said Pellicane, 19, of Oakland, California. “I applied to some California schools, but I wanted to get far away from home, so I came here. It’s not too far, but it’s far enough.”
Pellicane is one of about 1,900 new and returning students expected to live on campus this academic year, which begins Monday. New students moved into their dorms on Wednesday, and returning students moved into their campus digs on Friday.
Some of those who returned to campus, including junior D’Andre Cooper, made a home in a new themed community.
Howell Town — a themed floor geared toward black students — debuted this year and is named after John Howell, Nevada’s first black landowner.
“I want to take this as a new challenge for me,” said Cooper, a resident assistant.
“I feel like being in a thematic community really is going to help me grow as a person. I want to learn more about myself, more about my own culture.”
Cooper is brainstorming activities and programs that he can put together for residents.
“I really want to focus on different stereotypes and trends in the black community: homophobia in the black community, mental illness in the black community, sexual assault in the black community. I want to really shine a light on different trends I noticed that are swept under the rug.”
Orlando White, assistant director for residential education, said students prepared an 11-page proposal for Howell Town, mirroring Stonewall Suites, a themed floor that debuted last year and is dedicated to gender-diverse students and their supporters.
Stonewall Suites has grown from 40 to 60 students, White said.
Freshmen Jenny Bressler, of Canton, Michigan, and Paxton Scheurer, of Mansfield, Texas, do not live on a themed floor but have found camaraderie through their beloved sport, softball, and new coach, Kristie Fox.
“She just told me she sees me here, building the program,” Scheurer said of Fox. “I wanted to do that with her, with the team.”
Scheurer and her parents arrived in Las Vegas about 2 a.m. Wednesday, after a 17-hour trip.
Driving meant that Scheurer could bring most of her belongings, with pictures of her friends and family being the most cherished.
“I know that sounds cheesy, but I think it’s going to be important to look at when I’m homesick,” she said.
She also brought an item she’s not sure she’s supposed to have: a grilled cheese maker.
“You should have said no! No, I didn’t bring nothing,” her dad, Larry Scheurer, shouted from the other end of the room.
“I whispered it,” Paxton Scheurer said.
Move-in day surprises
Over the years, the residential life team at UNLV has encountered some unusual items on move-in day. Among them:
■ A waterbed: Staff noticed a student taking out of all of his room furniture and moving it into a truck with his father. The student then tried to put a queen-size waterbed into the standard-sized room that he had to share with another student.
■ Her boyfriend: A student thought that her boyfriend could stay with her, unlimited, even though she had a roommate.
■ A freezer: A resident’s parent attempted to drop off a full-size freezer. Either the resident thought that UNLV had kitchens in the residence hall — it doesn’t — or he or she just wanted to stock up on pizza bagels and Hot Pockets.
■ TVs: Two residents, moving into the same 20-by-11-foot residence hall room, each brought a TV. One was 64 inches and the other 75. UNLV staff described it as a “drive-in theater for dolls!”
■ A lizard: Every single year someone tries to bring one.
■ A bodyguard: A new resident was about to drop a Christian rap album and was convinced there would be “pandemonium” as a result.
Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.
