Freshman Party at the Prez Rez allowed the newest students on campus to enjoy food, games and prizes with President Bruce Murphy at his on-campus residence last night.

As part of the numerous events of Freshman Week, the goal of this social was to to bring this semester’s freshmen together to meet one another and to feel welcomed into the Nicholls family. Murphy was pleased with the turnout of freshmen who attended the event.

“I wanted to welcome all of the freshmen into the Nicholls family,” Murphy said. “It’s not our house, it’s your house.”

Murphy, along with his wife Jeanne Murphy and their presidential pup Guideaux, welcomed the freshmen with hot dogs, watermelon, ice cream and refreshments. There were also games and music for the new colonels to enjoy. A couple organizations set up tables at the social for the freshmen to receive prizes. SGA’s table offered free drink koozies and SPA’s table offered free towels.

Murphy’s original idea was to have an ice cream social but thanks to input and assistance from a few different campus organizations, the social blossomed into Party at the Prez Rez. The Auxiliary Services, including various groups from around campus such as Student Government Association, Student Programming Association, University Relations and Sodexo, came together to orchestrate the event. The Colonelettes, band members and some faculty were also in attendance.

The activities of Freshman Week shows students what Nicholls is all about. While Freshman Week and the Party at the Prez Rez social create opportunities to welcome freshmen to campus, these events also introduce freshmen to social events where they can spend less time focusing on their phones, which could lead to potentially missing opportunities to meet new people.

“This event is achieving the goal of bringing freshmen together to meet each other and make friends,” Tommy Thibodeaux, president of SGA, said. “The first two weeks for a freshman paints a picture about the University that lasts their entire time at the institution.”