Greenie Camp

What an awesome week I just had! The first ever Greenie Camp was a huge success. This year, with so many students interested in participating in Tulane's week-long pre-orientation session, formerly known as The NOLA Experience, we expanded our options for students. Now, the overall program is called EXPLORE, and our incoming freshmen have five different options for the week before move-in day: NOLA (with all the same tracks we've always had), Hillel (sponsored by Hillel), Ignite (community-service focused), the Summer Journalism Experience (write the first issue of our newspaper, among other things) and of course, Greenie Camp. You can read about all the options here.

Greenie Camp is brand new this year, and is sponsored by us here in the Office of Admission as well as our friends over in Alumni Relations. It was led by eight incredible student orientation coordinators and took 60 incoming freshmen all over the state to get them geared up for a lifelong relationship with both Tulane and the city of New Orleans. We did everything from hatch baby alligators to Cajun dance to dine at New Orleans' best restaurant. My pals Peter Young and Jered Bocage from Alumni Relations planned a pretty spectacular week for our newest Greenies.

As the EXPLORE program continues to grow in coming years, so will Greenie Camp. Our first year got off to an incredible start. Here is the week in photos. Enjoy, and Roll Wave!

Here is Lena, Trey, Chloe, Colin, Morgan, Sara, Sam and Barry. They led this pack of 60 students all week. They are, in every sense of the word, rockstars. 

And here is the fist-ever group of Greenie Campers! I really dug this group. I think it was in large part because they all were self-selected. They were really excited for GC and it showed. 

Stop one was the actual camp, around 90 minutes north of Tulane in Covington, LA. We spent a day...

...playing a little pool volleyball...

...fishing...

...making new friends...

....doing whatever this is...

...and most importantly, learning all of Tulane's cheers, including the Hullabaloo! 

Oh yes, we did indeed make them choreograph dances to the Hullabaloo. Check out those TUs! 

Life at the camp was pretty pretty! 

Hey, gang! 

I required many jumping shots of the group. 

We left the camp and headed straight to Insta-Gator ranch, an alligator conservation farm! 

Everyone got to hatch (and name!) their very own baby alligators. 

Look at all those lil' babies! 

But don't get too attached... because this is what they grow up to look like. 

Makin' new gator friends.

Gator and me. 

Here is Kai'Ree and Lexus and their baby gators. They named one of theirs Allie. Allie the Alligator. 

A newborn!

We left the ranch and got some good ol' fashioned Louisiana food at Middendorfs. 

Mmmmm oysters. 

That night, it was time to learn a little Cajun two-step. And how to play the washboard! 

Work that washboard! 

Cajun dancin'

And what Greenie Camp would be complete without a visit to Cafe du Monde for some beignets?

BeignYAY!

Next day we checked out Crescent Park and had some lunch in the Bywater.

And got a tour of Mardi Gras world, where Mardi Gras is made! 

We topped the week off with an incredible dinner at Commander's Palace! What an amazing way to end the week.
We were very serious. 

From the gator hatching farm to Commander's, these guys cleaned up well.

And so did the ladies! 

So there you have it! The first Greenie Camp is on the books. We can't wait to do it again next year. This is just a sampling of the events that took place the past week; you can see all of the events and our students' tweets and IGs about GC here.

Now, I am headed back to the freshman residence halls to help the rest of the class of 2018 get moved in. We've got this little saying at Tulane that goes "Only at Tulane, Only in New Orleans." I think Greenie Camp sums that one up pretty well!