Nothing says “Welcome, new students” like a battery of qualifying exams. Or, for that matter, sophomore-produced signs taunting the newbies. Yet another way—and certainly the most appreciated of the three—is coffee at a professor or dean’s home.

All three—and more—have been rites of passage for incoming students at The University of Iowa at various times since the doors opened for classes in 1855. Making the transition to college life as a new student has never been easy—Old Gold remembers 1974 very well, thank you—but University officials and sympathetic—we stress sympathetic—upperclassmen have taken steps over the years to make the transition smoother for first-year students.

Take the 1920s, for instance. Enrollment doubled during the decade, from 5,000 in 1920 to nearly 10,000 in 1929. The campus’s rapid growth bewildered newcomers, so the University’s administration distributed notices to incoming freshmen, providing event schedules and words of advice and encouragement. From the Aug. 30, 1930, UI Service Bulletin, for example:

“A freshman coming to the University is like an auto driver coming into a large city: when he sees it from a distance, he wonders how he will get through; the newness and size are both confusing. After he has passed through, he is amazed in recalling the ease with which he has found the way. He has just followed the signs and has sought advice from responsible persons.”

Well, Old Gold feels reassured already. One can imagine that the writer of the above passage was the avuncular type who calmed the nerves of the uninitiated with great delight. During Freshman Week that year, Sept. 15–20, all new students were asked to attend a series of meetings and assemblies, complete five hours of qualifying exams, and participate in the annual induction ceremony. A mixer at the Iowa Memorial Union capped off the week that Saturday night. Fast forward to the 1960s, when the calendar included visits to faculty or administrators’ homes.

Today, a wide range of activities awaits newcomers during Welcome Back Week: the annual president’s block party, Taste of Iowa City, and live entertainment. The UI Parents Association, the Division of Student Life, and UI Orientation Services team up for the festivities. It’s almost enough to convince Old Gold to take those qualifying exams again. Almost.

—David McCartney, University Archivist

Freshman party and mixer admission ticket, 1930 [University of Iowa Archives, Subject Vertical File Collection (RG 01.15.05), Traditions category, “Freshman Week 1927-1939” folder]

Students taking exam in Field House during Freshman Week, 1930s [Iowa Digital Library, Iowa City Town and Campus Scenes Collection (original in University of Iowa Archives, F.W. Kent Collection, Events and Activities Series, “Freshman Week” folder)]

Freshman orientation week schedule, 1968 [University of Iowa Archives, Subject Vertical File Collection (RG 01.15.05), Traditions category, “Freshman Week orientation” folder]

Students meet at the home of Robert F. Ray, dean of the Division of Special Services, from the Feb. 5, 1965, Daily Iowan [University of Iowa Archives, Subject Vertical File Collection (RG 01.15.05), Traditions category, “Freshman Week orientation” folder]