{"id":6718,"date":"2026-04-22T15:28:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/?p=6718"},"modified":"2026-04-22T15:28:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:28:55","slug":"welcome-day-recap-2026-rhode-to-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/2026\/04\/22\/welcome-day-recap-2026-rhode-to-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Day Recap 2026: Rhode to Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>During Welcome Day, a number of different clubs, organizations, and academic programs set up booths at our University Fair for potential students to get insight on what our campus has to offer. This gave others the opportunity to learn more about our academic opportunities, housing and dining options, and important campus resources. They also had the chance to talk to URI students who have found their place through our 300+ clubs and organizations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s that time of year where newly admitted students and committed families explore our lovely campus and begin their journey here at the University of Rhode Island. Our annual Welcome Days are designed to give incoming rams walking tours around campus, explore residence halls, learning about opportunities to participate in campus life, and much more! Throughout the day, there are designated blocks from the Welcome to URI Presentation to Walking Tours to our Academic and Student Life Programs for students to check out their potential new college home.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Campus Recreation was one of the many organizations at the University Fair, located at the Ryan Center, where people got to know more about our facilities and fitness and wellness programs on campus. On Welcome Day 2, I had the pleasure of representing Campus Rec alongside other Campus Rec staff. I got to talk to students about our different workout classes like yoga and pilates, and Intramural and Club Sports. Many people were really engaged with our athletics, especially Kinesiology and Sports Media students. Students and their families also participated in our fun questionnaire to find where they align at Campus Rec, and got to choose from many prizes. This ranged from our very own sunglasses, card holders, and fidget cubes which was a huge turn out. They were really excited about that, and the stickers we had spread on our table, Rhody Ram working out being the most popular. It was an active part of the event, drawing people in with all that Campus Rec has to offer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008-364x205.jpg 364w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008-500x281.jpg 500w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008-1000x562.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/WelcomeDays_Spring2026_March28th_00008.jpg 1819w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;When I was a freshman, my first Welcome Day felt intimidating and overwhelming, with hundreds of other new students and being undeclared. I wasn\u2019t sure if I was ready to commit to URI or if I was able to find my community here after all. But with exploring different academic buildings, extracirriculars, and so much more, I started to see myself going here as an official Ram. Being able to give others a great and memorable experience and contributing to a positive atmosphere was the highlight of the event. That\u2019s why Welcome Days are so important because they give others insight on choosing the path best suited for them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Katy Wilkey, a Campus Rec employee who works for our Marketing Team, represented our organization on the first Welcome Day. When asked about her experience working the event as a rising junior, she said <em>\u201cIt was really nice to get to talk to all of the incoming freshman and see how excited they were to get involved on campus. There was a really good turnout for the event, and it was cool to be able to share my experiences so far at URI with people who came to our table!&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Campus Rec, we\u2019re proud to have played a role in making Welcome Day 2026 a success by bringing energy and connection across campus, and showing what URI stands for. We continue to uplift our community by making sure they stay active and have a place where they belong. Whether you\u2019re an incoming freshman interested in athletics, looking for academic and job opportunities, or unsure where your path will take you, the Rhode to becoming a Ram is one to remember for a lifetime!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>By: Aaliyah Holford<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Major: Communications and Film Media<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Graduating May 2029<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During Welcome Day, a number of different clubs, organizations, and academic programs set up booths at our University Fair for potential students to get insight on what our campus has to offer. This gave others the opportunity to learn more about our academic opportunities, housing and dining options, and important campus resources. They also had [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4739,"featured_media":6719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-50"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4739"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6721,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718\/revisions\/6721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}