Welcome Week Event Reflection

On August 24th, 2013 the LGBT Center at the University of Louisville hosted a Welcome Week event for the incoming freshmen class of 2017. The room held more than one hundred students, and the evening events consisted of popsicles and Human Bingo.

The evening opened up with the Director of the Center Brian Buford welcoming the returning students as well as the new freshmen class. During his talk, he spoke highly of the Center, telling the students about the various programs the Center has as well as the recent five-out-of-five score from Campus Pride.

The biggest surprise of the evening came when Office Assistant Hilton Airall was presented with a PlayStation 3 and some games. A few weeks earlier, his apartment was robbed, and unknown to him, the staff at the Center and his close friends pooled money together to buy another one. “In this Center, we take care of those who take care of others.”

The evening concluded with the students actively getting involved with Human Bingo and eating popsicles, talking to one another to become acquainted and in a quest for prizes. “It’s interesting seeing these students who may be shy now, but are making friends and connections through this Center that will impact them. They’re going to change and grow so much,” commented Hilton Airall during the event. “It’s going to be an amazing year for all of us.”