First-year students at Bluffton moved into campus on Friday, Aug. 25 and began classes on Monday, Aug. 28. Here are some pictures from Welcome Week.

Chanhee Hwang and Irena Xhari, two of Bluffton University’s international students, take part in Welcome Week traditions, the Bren-Dell slip-n-slide. The slide runs down the hill next to Bren-Dell Residence Hall and is a way for both new and returning students to meet each other and celebrate before the academic year begins.

The President’s Reception, a new Welcome Week event at Bluffton University, gave students a chance to interact with President Jim Harder and Karen Klassen Harder, professor of business, at their home near campus. The students enjoyed treats from an ice cream sundae table.

Todd Hammond, a first-year student from Columbus, Ohio, represented the purple team at the 2017 Bluffton Olympics. During this Welcome Week tradition, teams of first-year students compete against each other through wacky games such as a three-legged race and an egg-carrying race

Bestselling author, Nathan Whitaker, shared thoughts on integrity as Bluffton University’s Convocation speaker. The event welcomed new students into Bluffton’s academic community and introduced Bluffton’s 2017-18 Civic Engagement Theme – Integrity, Truth, Virtue: Bluffton’s honor code in the world. 2018 will mark the 100th anniversary of the honor code at Bluffton through which students have been taught to uphold the community of respect in all of their campus interactions. Honor covenants signed by the incoming students were presented during the event.