Up to 1,000 New RIT Students to Explore Rochester Sept. 4

A sea of approximately 1,000 Rochester Institute of Technology students will swarm the streets of Rochester Sept. 4 as part of a new orientation program called Explore Rochester. Its mission? Get students acquainted with their new home.

“We want our students to get everything they can out of their RIT experience, and that includes embracing the Rochester experience.” says Shawna Lusk, RIT’s director of new student orientation. “We want to offer our new students a taste of what this community is all about.”

RIT students are already a tremendous asset to the Greater Rochester economy. A 2003 study showed that RIT students pour more than $130 million into the local economy each year. Explore Rochester should help to further extend that economic support. Fifty-two percent of this year’s projected 2,650 freshmen hail from outside New York state. For many, this will be their first chance to learn what Rochester has to offer.

Students will have the option of visiting Park Avenue, Charlotte and Ontario Beach Park, Pittsford Plaza or Eastview Mall. Other students will forgo shopping and sightseeing in favor of a community service experience at a handful of different sites across the city.

“We hope that a lot of our students will take advantage of the opportunity to engage in a community service activity,” says Lusk. “Hopefully it will set a precedent for the rest of their RIT careers.”

Busses will leave RIT at 1 p.m. and will leave the various sites at 4:30 p.m. to return to campus.