This time last year, dorms were triple-bunked and lunch lines flowed out of Founders; Guilford had just admitted its largest first-year class ever with 460 students.You will not find any triple-bunked rooms this year.
Guilford’s Class of 2014 is noticeably smaller, with only 371 students. The new first-years do not fill the dorms set aside for them, leaving 10 free beds in Milner, and resulting in a smoother check-in process.

However, arranging first-year housing was still a challenge this year.

The new Living and Learning Communities formed in Binford Hall were complicated to arrange, but Campus Life hopes that one First-Year Experience class to each wing in Binford (a total of nine communities) will help new students get to know each other, find friends, and make the adjustment to college life easier.

First-year orientation was also different for the Class of 2014.
The most visible change was the new name. After 15 years, Community Health And Orientation Services (CHAOS) has been retired, due to complaints made by parents that CHAOS made orientation sound chaotic. Associate Dean for Campus Life Jen Agor chose Guilford Orientation (GO) as the new name for the first-year’s introduction to college life.

Another difference was the lauching of summer orientations. These one-day orientations gave students the opportunity to complete the Quantitative Literacy exam, be photographed for their Quaker cards, and meet with faculty and staff. There was also a question and answer session held by current students where first-years could bestow advice and respond to questions.

With 44 percent of the new first-years hailing from N.C. and 17 percent from other southern states, around three-quarters of new students were able to attend these orientations.
Absent from these summer orientations, as well as from the orientation at the start of the semester was the removal of required IT&S training.

“I feel like (GO) failed in not making IT&S training mandatory,” said junior GO Leader Dan Vasiles.

“I just thought some of the information was so unnecessary,” said first-year Meredith Meyer on the organization of GO.
Other orientation programming this year included daily small group meetings with GO leaders, the infamous Todd and Amy talk on sexual assault, and an Open Mic Night.

Activities at the carnival included sumo suits, mechanical bull rides, as well as free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and a variety of local favorite treats like Carolina Diner.

“We have a really good mix of people this year,” said Agor. “With a new class that is 52 percent female, Guilford is doing better than the national average (around 57 percent) in balancing male and female students.