As dusk set in over the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Aug. 15, more than 100 new Huskers stood near Broyhill Fountain, chatting and laughing while awaiting the start of the Big Red Welcome Late-Night History Tour.
Campus tours are being offered each day as part of Big Red Welcome, but the night tour incorporated some additional spookiness.
Guides Emmerson Putnam, Tori Cocannouer and Isela Tercero, who also served as NSE leaders over the summer, broke the students into three smaller groups and began a large loop around campus.
The tour guides shared various facts about the students’ new home away from home, its history, and tips for success.
There are about 7,000 trees on campus, which is designated as an Arbor Day Tree Campus.
It’s said that a ghost named Dallas likes to play tricks on visitors to the Temple building. Oldfather Hall is allegedly haunted by the specter of a former philosophy professor.
Architecture Hall is the oldest building on campus.
Niehardt Hall, which is undergoing renovations, was once an infirmary that housed polio victims.
And — possibly most importantly — rubbing the foot of Archie the Mammoth outside of Morrill Hall, which was named for a regent, not the congressional land act, can bring good luck, especially for important tests and projects.
“There are study spaces in nearly every building on campus,” Putnam told her group. “Take some time to explore and find one that you like and that works for you. You don’t have to have classes in a building to take advantage of a study space.”
Isabella Mora, a first-year student from Grand Island, said she was familiar with the layout of campus because she has attended summer camps as a Nebraska College Preparatory Academy student, but that the opportunity to learn some new information about the university sounded like a fun opportunity to get outdoors during a beautiful evening.
As an Honors and NCPA student, Mora moved into Knoll Residential Center Aug. 13.
“It’s definitely different than attending camp,” Mora said. “I’m excited to start classes and meet new people.”
A lifelong Husker fan, Mora said she also got season tickets for the 2023 football season.
“I’ve never been able to attend a Husker game in person, so I’m really excited for that,” she said, adding that she has been inside Memorial Stadium previously for the NSAA football championships.
For Caroline Zweedyk of Elkhorn and Josie Lahm of Ceresco, the tours and other Big Red Welcome events were a way to reconnect and strengthen a budding friendship.
“We met at NSE and kept in touch,” Lahm said. “I’ve been on campus many times before because we live so close, but this is a new way of seeing it.”
