Albany State University students move-in day

ALBANY, Ga. – Albany State University (ASU) is filled with excitement as they welcome the newest cohort of students.

The campus was bustling with activity as freshman from various majors, along with their families, embarked on the first of many steps in their collegiate journey.

“I am really excited to be here on move-in day. This is one of the most exciting times for our freshmen. This is the beginning of a new adventure for them. Not just in terms of the academic work and all of those things, but just the relationships they’re going to build, how this is going to impact the rest of their life. So, I’m really excited. I can’t wait for it to begin when our other returning students come next week. But, more importantly than that, I’m just excited that ASU is preparing itself for its next generation. And I couldn’t be happier about what I’m seeing today,” said Dr. Lawrence Drake, Interim President, Albany State University.

Antonio Leroy, Director of Housing, Residential Life, & Community Engagement at Albany State University, emphasizes that ASU is dedicated to making new students feel welcomed and at home during their move-in experience.

“We do it before we ever get here. So, you go on our website and it is a welcoming website, www.asurams.edu and the first thing we say to people, “excellence is the standard.” Then, we follow the leadership of our President, Dr. Lawrence Drake, and then his Vice President, Dr. Terry Lindsay, V.P. Johnson. And, the list goes on and on. And, so, we have a consistent theme. We want people to see blue and gold when they come on campus. We want them to see balloons. We want students to feel that this is more exciting than going to high school in the ninth grade because this is where you spend the most of your life once you graduate with a degree from Albany State University. So, we try to prepare students who are going to live a long, productive life, to be productive citizens, to feel like they are welcome from new student orientation to campus visitation, to get students to this very moment,” said Antonio Leroy, ASU Director of Housing, Residence Life, & Community Engagement.

ASU also places great importance on the families of all incoming Rams.

“Well, sometimes people’s allergies act up and they need a tissue. And, there are more fathers and mothers; and they say, “Hey, it’s so hard to say goodbye,” but you have to let your students go. So, we welcome the students, we welcome the parents to the family. But, we just try to buy in to not just the student, but to the mothers, to fathers, the grandparents, because this experience is not just about the student. It’s also about the mother and the fathers and the families these students are coming from,” said Leroy.

Albany State University is deeply committed to providing students with the resources they need to achieve their goals and succeed.

“We don’t lose here. That’s why we have a championship athletic program. We are the winner, we learn. So, we tell students, it’s okay not to know the answer, but learn why you don’t know the answer. Go to class early, follow the housing rules. Take pride in its royal blue and gold has been around for 120 plus years, founded in 1903. Because, you’re building your legacy now. What students will say about Albany State University ten years from now depends on what students do today. So, we want them to understand that they’re standing on the shoulders of giants, people who were in the educational movement in the sixties. People who lost their lives for people of color to have an institution, a historic black college and university that exists in the southwest corner of the Peach State. And, we do not take that lightly. We’re going to have these intimate personal discussions with all 1200 incoming freshmen because we want to have a high retention rate with our students. We want every student to be successful here at Albany State University, we tell the students finally, that when you come to the issue, when you spell it in reverse, you get USA. Our students can get anywhere from here,” said Leroy.

De’Andra Jacobs reporting.

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