JACKSON, Tenn. — Aug. 18, 2017 — Parents, faculty, staff and students filled the parking lots at 51社区 as they helped incoming freshmen students move into their new rooms Friday. About 400 new students moved into the residence complexes to kick off Welcome Week.
Christopher Johnson, a student from Huntsville, Alabama, said the move-in day solidified his impression of Union as a campus that cares about community.
鈥淲hen I visited, Union had such a small feel,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can sense that it鈥檚 a tight Christian community as soon as you walk on campus.鈥�
Johnson will be studying biochemistry at Union. He said he was initially skeptical that a smaller private school could provide the academic rigor that a larger school could, but his concerns were alleviated when he toured the facilities and met the professors.
鈥淭he sciences are strong at Union,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he faculty have the opportunity to do research, but their focus is on teaching students and building relationships with them. That鈥檚 something I didn鈥檛 see at any other school. 鈥�
Johnson said he is excited to start his classes and to find a new group of friends and a new church home in Jackson.
Julia Browning, another incoming freshman, said Union seems like the perfect place to build a new community away from home. Growing up in nearby Memphis, she said she has been familiar with Union for some time, but when she started researching schools, it stood out as a healthy Christian university.
鈥淚t seemed like a good place to get an education, and it鈥檚 a great environment,鈥� Browning said. 鈥淚t was hard to believe one of the best schools I looked at also wasn鈥檛 too far from home.鈥�
Hayden Rash said he can鈥檛 see himself going to school anywhere but Union. He said he has had a strong positive impression of the university for years because his pastor is a Union alumnus. When a representative from Union visited his hometown of Marion, Arkansas, he was sold on the university very quickly.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited to start the next chapter of my life at Union,鈥� Rash said. 鈥淚 have seen the kind of quality people that come out of Union, and I鈥檓 so grateful to get to be a part of it too.鈥�
Most of the new students moved into the Heritage Residence Complex, with a few living in the Quads. They will participate in more Welcome Week activities over the next few days before classes begin August 22.