Photo Spotlights

Global Village housing is being expanded to accommodate more than 140 students. A four-story building is under construction to consist of studio apartments and four-bedroom suites. The project is scheduled to be completed by August 2017.

Freshmen, transfer and returning students walk the quarter mile on the first day of classes. This year, RIT has a record enrollment of about 19,000 students on its campuses in Rochester, including about 600 undergraduate students at RIT campuses in China, Croatia, Dubai and Kosovo. This year’s freshman class is expected to be about 2,660, smaller than last year’s record class but on par with previous years.

Lighting the Way is a welcoming ceremony for new RIT women sponsored by the Center for Women and Gender. All women at RIT are invited to attend as well as new and returning students, alumnae, faculty and staff. This special event, held on Aug. 18, features a lantern-lit procession and dessert reception.

RIT President Bill Destler addresses the RIT community at the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year. It was his 10th and final welcoming address, as he plans to retire next summer. Destler said he will not coast to his retirement, and thanked RIT's faculty and staff, and his spouse, Rebecca Johnson, for the dedication and support.

RIT students march in the Tiger Walk to the Convocation for New Students and Families in the Gordon Field House Aug. 17. About 2,660 first-year students have enrolled this year.

The Resource Fair, held August 16 in the Student Alumni Union, is a comprehensive event that allows new students and their families to get their questions answered, meet with staff members, take care of business, and get information regarding the resources and services available at RIT and in the community.

Christopher Spinelli, a first-year student in mechanical engineering from Camillus, N.Y., gets a lift from RIT President Bill Destler. RIT welcomes some 3,300 new undergraduates to the Henrietta campus today, including freshmen and transfer students. The freshman class hails from 47 states—plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands—as well as 54 countries.

Lucia Kuvacic, a fourth-year international business student from Split, Croatia, sorts clothing during the set-up for the Goodbye, Goodbuy! sale. The sale, which runs through Saturday, offers incoming students the opportunity to buy used furniture, clothing, fans, lamps, televisions, kitchenware and more at bargain prices. The sale, in its second year, is a student-led sustainability initiative to help reduce items normally thrown out while offering needed items to incoming students. More than 70,000 pounds of items were collected in the spring.

Gallery r, Rochester Institute of Technology’s metro showcase and learning laboratory for the arts in downtown Rochester, presents “A 9/11 Project, Reflections and Memories,” an exhibition running Aug. 5–21. The exhibit showcases a selection from 121 daily newspapers collected during the week following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, along with reflections from RIT students and the Rochester community at large.

High school students participating in the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship’s Future Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs program delivered their final marketing presentations to their business clients Aug. 11. For the past 12 weeks, the high schoolers have been meeting with community business owners to solve problems and develop leadership skills through real-world learning.

First-year students attend the RIT/NTID New Signers Program, an optional two-week pre-orientation program offered to newly accepted deaf and hard-of-hearing students who have little or no prior skills in American Sign Language. This program is designed to help students learn basic sign skills, so they can communicate more effectively with RIT/NTID students, faculty and staff members who use sign language. Students also receive an introduction to Deaf culture and deaf awareness.

From left, Robert Adams, Yaak Awuok and Christian Culmer tested games created by RIT students on Aug. 2. The Thomas P. Ryan Community Center and Sully Branch-Rochester Public Library “Safe to be Smart” youth visited RIT’s Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction and Creativity (MAGIC) to play test games created by summer Co-Up students. The teens came to campus to begin work on their play testing “badges” designed by the Center for MAGIC as part of the LRNG initiative, a grant the City of Rochester received to facilitate in-school and out-of-school learning. In 2016, Rochester joined 12 other U.S. cities to launch its own pilot program where young people can explore learning opportunities in their communities.