Welcome Week

Exciting activities and time-honored traditions

From CultureFest, which is your opportunity to start finding your people, to Traditions and Spirit of IU, where you will get to see first-hand what Big Ten athletics are like and get a feel for what it is like to be a Hoosier, Welcome Week has something for everyone.

Welcome Week events will help you explore the campus, meet new people, and connect to resources. Enjoy large-scale and small-group activities, get to know your academic department, explore different cultures, learn the IU fight song, and attend open houses—all planned to help you transition to campus and learn what is expected of you as a new Hoosier.

Welcome Week 2023 kicked off August 16 with the New Student Induction Ceremony. Events continued through the first week of classes for new and returning students.

Description of the video:

[Upbeat music plays]
[Video: Fade in on an aerial photograph of the football field at Indiana Memorial Stadium. Students are lining up on the field making the shape of the IU trident. The screen shifts to video of an IU cheerleader in a white uniform. She is shaking pom poms over her head.]
[Words appear: Welcome Week, the next step towards your Hoosier Experience]
[Video: The screen wipes to a new video clip. An aerial view of IU Fine Arts Plaza is shown with Showalter Fountain at center. An event is taking place with tens and a stage set up around the plaza. Students are seen throughout the space. The plaza is framed by the limestone buildings of the Lilly Library and the IU Auditorium. The aerial view changes direction and zooms out from the IU auditorium.]
[Video: The screen goes red and out of focus. Refocus in on the IU seal in cream and crimson, in front of a crimson curtain. The seal reads Indianensis Universitatis Sigillum MDCCCXX in Latin, which translates to Indiana University Seal 1820. The screen zooms in on the seal]
[Video: Students in the bleachers at Indiana Memorial Stadium during the Traditions and Spirit event. The students are wearing cream and crimson IU gear and holding white thunder sticks with the IU trident and the words Indiana University. The students are cheering. The view changes to an aerial shot of the student section]
[Video: Aerial view of an outdoor stage with three dancers in brightly colored dresses. A crowd watches in a semi-circle. The view changes to show the dancers on stage in front of the IU Auditorium]
[Video: Three students sitting on the edge of Showalter Fountain, waving.]
[Video: A group of singers with microphones.]
[Video: A group of students dancing in a line.]
[Video: Students on an outdoor stage showing the IU fists and blades cheer. They are seen from the back and an audience of students are shown in the background]
[Video: A Welcome Week team member at a tabling event for the Hoosier Experience. She speaks with two students. The table has t-shirts, buttons, coasters, and a Hoosier Experience banner on display.]
[Video: Students pushing laundry carts with their belongings during Move In]
[Video: A student reads a program during the 2022 Indiana University Bloomington Freshman Induction Ceremony]
[Video: Interim Provost John Applegate and President Whitten process wearing academic regalia during the Freshman Induction Ceremony. They walk in front of a group of faculty and staff also wearing academic regalia.]
[Video: President Whitten stands at a podium, wearing her academic regalia. The faculty behind her on stage are applauding.]
[Video: Students and their families in the audience applauding during the Freshman Induction Ceremony]
[Video: Students in the Indiana Memorial Stadium stands cheering and waving thunder sticks during the Traditions and Spirit event. A student Orientation Leader hypes them up, cheering and jumping in front of them. The video pans to show more students cheering, smiling, and shouting]
[Video: The Marching Hundred band, the RedStepper Dance Team, and the IU cheerleading team are shown in formation on the field at Indiana Memorial Stadium during the Traditions and Spirit event. Fireworks go off behind them.]
[Video: Students running onto the Indiana Memorial Stadium field from the team entrance]
[Video: Students laughing and smiling in the stands at Indiana Memorial Stadium]
[Video: A student fires a t-shirt cannon towards students in the bleachers at Indiana Memorial Stadium during the Traditions and Spirit event]
[Video: Close up on a female student dancing and smiling. She wears a shirt with an IU trident and cream and crimson striped face paint on her cheeks]
[Video: A student balancing on a foam log in a pool of water during a Recreational Sports event outside the Bill Garrett Fieldhouse]
[Video: A student practices martial arts with a partner during a Recreational Sports event inside the Bill Garrett Fieldhouse]
[Video: A student climbs a rock wall]
[Video: Students sitting on the edge of Showalter Fountain wave at the camera as it passes]
[Video: The screen slides quickly in transition to show a sign with the words, “Welcome to the Part-Time Jobs Fair.” Students are walking past.]
[Video: A student speaks to representatives from WTIU at the Part-Time Jobs Fair in the Indiana Memorial Union Alumni Hall]
[Video: Students listen to a representative from IU Event Services at the Part-Time Jobs Fair]
[Video: Close up of a tent and banner with the words “College of Arts + Sciences Expo. Your Journey Starts Here]
[Video: Students speak with faculty and staff at tables inside a tent]
[Video: Close up of crimson IU hats lined up on a table]
[Video: Pan up to a video of an athletic coach speaking with a microphone on the field at Indiana Memorial Stadium. IU student football players are lined up behind him wearing their crimson jerseys]
[Video: Dancers in brightly colored dresses on an outdoor stage in front of the IU Auditorium.]
[Video: Students dancing in front of the IU Auditorium.]
[Video: A young child and an older student dance together in front of an outdoor event tent. A banner in front of the tent reads “African American Arts Institute a a a I dot Indiana dot edu]
[Video: A student breakdances in front of a semi-circle of other students who clap and cheer them on]
[Video: Students in the bleachers at Indiana Memorial Union holding white thunder sticks with the IU trident and the words Indiana University. They are shown cheering in slow-motion]
[Video: The screen zooms out to a side view of the field and bleachers at Indiana Memorial Stadium at night. The IU trident appears on screen]
[Words appear: Start off with a Bang]
[Video: The screen goes black. The IU trident appears on screen]
[Words appear: First Year Experience Programs. F y e dot Indiana dot e d u]
[End of video]
[End of transcript]
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Welcome Week returns in August 2024 so be sure to check back in for the event schedule.

Headshot of Grace Skirvin

"My favorite Welcome Week event was Traditions and Spirit! Learning the chants and fight songs gave me so much Hoosier pride from the very beginning of my IU experience. I'm always the person in the group to scream the fight song during football games. The connections I made during Welcome Week stuck with me throughout my first year. Welcome Week definitely made IU feel like home."

Grace SkirvinCollege of Arts and Sciences

Get ready—and excited—for campus life

Before you arrive on campus, review everything you need to know about move-in from IU Housing. Then, take a look at your IU Bucket List for a list of events and places to explore before you graduate from IU—you can check many items off your IU Bucket List just by attending Welcome Week events.

Joining us in January?

Learn of welcome events and opportunities to connect with campus and your fellow Hoosiers during New Student Orientation.