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Illinois Wesleyan students settle in for semester
By Michele Steinbacher
msteinbacher@pantagraph.com
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BLOOMINGTON -- Andrea de Avila spent time Monday morning browsing through textbook shelves at the Illinois Wesleyan University campus bookstore.

It already was the first day of classes, but de Avila wasn’t in a rush, now that she is a senior.

"I’m a little more casual about it,” the River Forest woman said of waiting until the semester’s start for book purchases. As a freshman, she was more nervous, she said.

The theater and Spanish studies student is among nearly 2,100 students who started classes Monday at IWU. Freshmen and transfer students arrived a week early for orientation programs, but most upperclassmen arrived over the weekend.

The start of classes is a familiar scene at college campuses during August. At the several campuses dotting Central Illinois, about 30,000 people enroll in classes each fall. Most of those, about 20,000, attend Illinois State University in Normal.

But the other 10,000 are spread across small college campuses. Some, like de Avila, arrive as returning students. For others, like Susan Zhong of Rockford — it’s a new experience.

The IWU pre-medicine student began life as a university student at 8 a.m. Monday, sitting through her first college-level biology course.

"I was nervous. I was a little bit afraid the professor would talk too fast, and I’d miss something. But it wasn’t like that," she said with some relief. Zhong said she realizes the subject matter will get more difficult, but after surviving her first class, she sees the lessons will be delivered in a manageable sequence.

On a campus, the semester’s start also is significant for faculty and staff.

IWU President Dick Wilson’s office was a busy spot Monday morning with various people stopping by. During one meeting, Registrar Jeff Frick popped in with the latest enrollment numbers: At 2,097 the enrollment management staff was very close to the 2,100 target.

Wilson said he looks forward every fall to the start of classes.

"The first few weeks after commencement I enjoy the peace and quiet. But that gets old really fast," he said.

He’s been busy taking part in some of the orientation programs. On Thursday night, he sat in with a reading group discussing Tracy Kidder’s "Mountains Beyond Mountains," which IWU administrators asked all incoming students to read this summer.

Part of orientation focused on students breaking into small groups and discussing the book, which Wilson described as a work focusing on health care from a social justice perspective.

On Sunday night, Wilson was the host of a dinner for the school’s 24 international students.

The first Monday of class and the Saturday preceding it tend to be some of the busiest work days for Kevin Long, the store’s textbook coordinator.

By 10 a.m. Monday, he reported a steady stream of upperclassmen such as de Avila getting books. "They’ve kind of been coming in waves," he said.

But his work readying for the fall semester actually started back in February, when professors started turning in what texts they’d be using for their courses. Long then places orders with distributors.

"We got a flurry of orders in July," he said of incoming book deliveries.

Outside on the university’s quad, the fact that class was back in session was made clear by sidewalks populated with backpack-carrying men and women.

One of those was Pamela Muirhead, but she’s not a student. Muirhead, an IWU graduate, has taught English at the university for 35 years. S was heading to her department office.

"I actually started my semester about six weeks ago," she said of her preparations.

She’s looking forward to introducing the dozen students enrolled in the seminar to different authors, especially Langston Hughes, who Muirhead noted attended junior high school in Lincoln. "But today we just went over the mechanicals. Really, I’m at my most boring on the first day of class," she said.

Take a look
Andrea de Avila, an Illinois Wesleyan senior from River Forest, selected her books for her classes at the IWU bookstore, Monday, August 27, 2007. Seniors were a little less frantic with their school related purchases on the first day of classes. (Pantagraph, David Proeber)
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Reader comments on this story - 6 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Luther Billis wrote on Aug 28, 2007 1:03 PM:

" How did the comments go there? Sheesh. Welcome back, Titans! "

Whoohoo wrote on Aug 28, 2007 12:54 PM:

" I'm just glad the hotties are back walking campus in the "daisy dukes"!!! The shorts just keep getting shorter! "

Nobody cares wrote on Aug 28, 2007 10:07 AM:

" Ok! "

To: to DeMarcus wrote on Aug 28, 2007 9:53 AM:

" You're right. shame on IWU for wanting more diversity at their school. God I hate it when people understand we live in a diverse world so it makes sense to have a little diversity in your school/community/company, etc. I say we just go back to segregation. It's just too hard to mix the races. Give me a break and do us all a favor and climb back into your hole. "

to: DeMarcus wrote on Aug 27, 2007 10:56 PM:

" IWU does have some kind of "diversity initiative" going. I don't think it's having much effect other than giving the ultraliberal faculty an excuse to toot their own horns. "

DeMarcus wrote on Aug 27, 2007 8:27 PM:

" I would like to see affirmative action come to IWU. "
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