Back to School

The University of Houston recently kicked off its 2007-2008 academic year by welcoming nearly 35,000 new and returning students to the UH campus. In addition to students scrambling for parking and managing any last-minute schedule changes, the first two days of the new fall semester proved to be exceptionally busy and exciting as over 450 campus-wide volunteers helped thousands of students get acclimated to life as a Cougar.
The 10th Annual Cougar First Impressions, sponsored by the UH Staff Council, provided students with valuable resources at 19 key areas throughout campus. Students embraced this year’s theme, “It’s Cool to be a Cougar,” as they visited the various CFI tents seeking campus maps, directions to class, informative brochures, or a cold drink.

Volunteers, including UH staff members, the Houston Alumni Organization and others participated and helped the 10th Annual Cougar First Impressions produce amazing results. More than 25,000 student questions were answered and over 40,000 bottles of water were distributed during the two-day event. Additionally, students also picked up thousands of pens, highlighters, calendars and other useful items for their first day of class.

Another special feature for the tenth anniversary event was an air-conditioned "cool tent," from which staff volunteers distributed over 9,500 ice cream and frozen treats to sweltering students. The cool tent also featured "cool facts" about UH as well as snow in August.