Alumni Association sponsors
11th annual 'Watering Hole'

August 18, 2009 -- The Arkansas State University Alumni Association will welcome incoming students and their families as they move into campus residence halls Saturday, Aug. 22, by providing the 10th annual “Watering Hole.” Demand for volunteer positions was so great this year that the Alumni Office has established a waiting list for those who wish to work one of the two shifts, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 and from 10:30 to noon.

Alumni Association staff, members and volunteers offer assistance in greeting students, their families and friends by providing free bottles of cold water during campus move-in from 9 a.m. to noon. Residence halls are fully booked, so alumni staff and volunteers expect plenty of demand.

Move-in day at the beginning of the academic year in August is traditionally an exciting and hectic event on campus, as cars and trailers are unloaded in the parking lots with students' clothes, furnishings and other items for their rooms.

Volunteers from Alumni Office staff, Alumni Association members and board of directors, university officials, and area alumni and friends offer assistance as needed at stations stocked with water and ice outside each of the residence halls. The volunteers wear special T-shirts identifying them as Watering Hole volunteers. Many volunteers return every year in order to offer assistance and share their pride in ASU by providing a warm welcome for the incoming students who are the university's future alumni.

According to ASU Alumni Association membership director Pat Edwards, "We appreciate the alumni and friends who volunteer to help at watering hole. It's a great tradition where right from the beginning of the school year, we can show incoming students and their families that we're glad they chose Arkansas State University. Maybe someday as alumni, they'll come back and volunteer to keep the tradition going. We're proud of ASU and this is part of how we show it."

For more information or to sign up for the Watering Hole volunteer waiting list, contact Pat Edwards at the ASU Alumni office at (870) 972-2438 or e-mail alumni@astate.edu.

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