With the start of the fall semester just around the corner, Carnegie Mellon University is welcoming thousands of newcomers to its Pittsburgh campus community.
For incoming graduate students, orientation activities are underway through Friday, Aug. 17, and undergraduate orientation will occur Aug. 18-26. The weekend before classes begin, everyone is invited to attend Craig Street Crawl from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26 between Forbes Avenue and Winthrop Street. The event gives new and returning students the chance to explore restaurants and shops in the vibrant business district just a few minutes from campus.
Graduate Students Invited To Become "Architects of Change"
Suzie Laurich-McIntyre, assistant vice provost for graduate education, greeted more than 2,700 incoming graduate students from 64 countries to the university on Tuesday, Aug. 14.
"We hope you will take the initiatives to explore Carnegie Mellon to be an active member of the intellectual and social community here on campus and in the Pittsburgh region and to grow and expand your horizons," Laurich-McIntyre said.
CMU President Farnam Jahanian told the incoming students that they have the talent, ideas and abilities to make their marks, and that they have arrived at an exciting time.
"CMU is at the center of a societal transformation. And, of course, this societal transformation is catalyzed by the digitization of information, automation, the democratization of knowledge and unprecedented access to data and analytics," Jahanian said. "But thanks to our excellence in computation and data, and our reputation for interdisciplinary problem-solving and relentless creativity, Carnegie Mellon is exceptionally well-positioned to write the story of this century."
New students are joining an intellectually diverse community, Jahanian said, which has produced 20 Nobel laureates, 12 Turing Award winners, and 79 members of the National Academies of Engineering, Science and Medicine. At the same time, CMU alumni have won 47 Tony Awards, 10 Oscars and 124 Emmys, and students have been honored for their academic achievements with Churchill, Fulbright and Goldwater scholarships, among others.
Amy Burkert, vice provost for education, told the students that Carnegie Mellon aspires to educate not just "agents of change but architects of change."
"First, dare to take risks and dream big," Burkert said. "Second, believe in yourself and your ideas, even when others might not. Third, think beyond what is, to what could be. Fourth, never stop exploring the unknown and probing new frontiers. Reach for and beyond the stars. And finally, don't give up, even if your first attempts are unsuccessful because your work may indeed change our understanding of the world."
Gina Casalegno, vice president for Student Affairs and dean of Students, told the students that the university is not only concerned about their academic development but also about supporting their well-being.
"We are dedicated to the development of an engaged community ... where you are supported in all facets of your experience while you do work that matters," Casalengo said.
Graduate Student Assembly President Surya Aggarwal, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in biological sciences, said when he started at CMU he recalled being nervous wondering if he had made the right choice.
"If there is one thing I can tell you, it is that you do belong here," Aggarwal said. "Carnegie Mellon is an exceptional place, and you have been handpicked by your respective programs to attend this prestigious institution because they believe in your abilities — we believe in your potential to change the world."
Three Streets To Close on Saturday, Aug. 18
More than 1,500 first-year students are expected to arrive on campus on Saturday, Aug. 18. Students from the Class of 2022 represent 30 countries, 45 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories.
On Aug. 18, also known as Move-In Day, three Oakland streets adjacent to CMU will be closed to through traffic from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Affected areas are:
- 5100 block of Margaret Morrison Street, between Forbes Avenue and Tech Street;
- 100 block of Tech Street, between Margaret Morrison Street and Schenley Drive; and
- 1000 block of Morewood Avenue between Fifth and Forbes avenues.
In addition to those areas, the 4700 block of Fifth Avenue is expected to be very congested. It is recommended that motorists avoid this area if possible.