CHARLOTTE, N.C./Jan. 8, 2023 - The 2024 Golden Bull Academy New Student Orientation was in full effect on Friday, January 5th inside Johnson C. Smith University’s Mary Joyce Taylor Crisp Student Union - Grimes Lounge. The Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management hosted the event for nearly 30 new and transfer students, plus their families. Students received a rousing welcome and a first dose of Golden Bull Pride!
Dr. Davida Haywood, Senior Vice President of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, shared the mission: "Our goal is to get students and by extension their parents and caretakers acclimated to the JCSU experience. We use the day to aid in students’ transition to campus - freshmen and transfer students. In the afternoon, we teach them about responsibility. The onus is on them.” Dr. Haywood explained that technology can help. The One Guidebook App is a digital tool that students have at their fingertips. It is a one-stop-shop, replete with a campus map, tuition payment options, and more.
At the Golden Bull Academy orientation event, students learned all about longevity: managing adult decisions over the course of the next four years. This includes money matters, financing their education at JCSU, and more. The staff from Health & Wellness and the Atrium Health JCSU Health Center shared insight on how students can stay healthy and manage academic responsibilities. Terry McPherson, Director of Housing and Residence Life, explains: "If you don't manage your time wisely, some of you will have a difficult time." On the flip side, McPherson admits, “JCSU is where you will develop life-long relationships.”
During their matriculation at Johnson C. Smith, students will learn to manage new relationships and new experiences of all sorts, from academic to extracurricular. Parents and caretakers say they want to make sure students handle these new endeavors with safety top-of-mind. During Golden Bull Academy, Campus Police shared critical information about how students can stay safe. First, officers provide daily assistance to students, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, covering everything from parking to criminal investigations. Safety includes keeping students safe inside the dorms and during their trek across the one-hundred-acre campus.
Golden Bull Academy was a fully immersive experience. Students set their schedules, toured campus, and some moved into the dorms, creating a new home away from home flanked in gold and blue.
