: For Students, Faculty, and Staff 
Welcome Week buttons
Freshman Week began at the University of Minnesota in 1926. The program was described as a time for freshman to “go through the routine details of registration and then take part in a series of exercises designed to introduce them to university life, to the university establishments in which they will study, and to the ideals of behavior and work with which a new student should approach an institution for higher education.”
The June 1928 issue of Minnesota Chats, a University newsletter for parents, declared that the University “is making every preparation to provide a hearty, but chiefly a useful, greeting to the freshmen when they arrive on the campus next fall. Freshman Week has proved to be a great success during the past two years, and the administration is planning to make it even more effective this time.”
What did students think? The Gopher yearbook for 1928 noted that “an event was initiated (in 1926) which promises to become one of the most valuable and worthwhile activities in the University.” Freshman students meeting returning students before classes begin “is now emphasized as an important element in college life at Minnesota by the activities of Freshman Week…”
Now known as Welcome Week, activities originally organized as Freshman Week have continued through the decades in various forms, adapting to changing perspectives and expectations for “a useful greeting to campus.”
As a way to welcome everyone to campus for the start of the academic year, University Archives would like to share glimpses of Freshman Week and Welcome Week from our collections. Best wishes as the fall semester begins!
1928 Gopher, Freshman Week page http://purl.umn.edu/134833.
1938 Gopher, Freshman Week section explains that the University welcomed 3,500 freshmen and transfer students in the fall of 1937, http://purl.umn.edu/134844.
1946 Gopher, Freshman Week section notes that University President James L. Morrill had “his first quarter, too” and that he shared with the students that “it is heartening that we can turn again to the long-range tasks of peace…for peace is the true climate of education.” http://purl.umn.edu/134851.
1950 Welcome Week program cover featuring beanies that were, at times, an important element of Welcome Week. But the particulars of how, when, and why beanies were introduced to and then faded from Welcome Week are difficult to confirm.
1954 Gopher, Freshman Week section highlights several traditions including group singing and “weird hats,” http://purl.umn.edu/134859.
1968 Welcome Week program cover.
1968 Welcome Week program introductory page challenges students to “become aware not only of yourself and the University of Minnesota, but also of the community outside the University and the problems and issues confronting it. In essence, problems which will confront you as individuals living in that society.”
Students attending Welcome Week in 1971 in front of Coffman Memorial Union.
Students attending Welcome Week in 1971 at an informational table.
1973 Welcome Week program cover.
1973 Welcome Week program opening pages outline featured activities of the week and explain the Week’s theme, “The 1973 Welcome Week theme ‘Four More Years’ was selected by student planners with an obvious reference to political humor. However, they chose it to indicate a new beginning. They are not suggesting that four years is a limiting number, but rather a beginning of a new experience.”
Make a ‘U’ turn Freshman Camp t-shirt, 1978. Freshman camp began in the 1920s and offered students an opportunity to connect through a camping experience the weekend before Welcome Week.
—Erin George is the University Archives Research Services Archivist. To learn more about the University of Minnesota Archives, please visit www.lib.umn.edu/uarchives.
I still have that black and white button on the lower left. Welcome week 1964 not only introduced me to ‘university life’, it introduced me to a cute guy from Marshall High – who I dated those four years (one used to be able to graduate in four years) We just celebrated 50 years of marriage last June. Both of our sons graduated from the U of M and one works there so we are a rah rah ski u mah family.
Thank you for that great story! And, congratulations on your 50th anniversary!