Starting Strong

Olivet Celebrates First Weeks of the 2024-2025 academic year
Hannah Priest headshot

Hannah Priest

September 16, 2024 Academics, Campus Life, Spiritual Life

4 males walking on campus

The campus of Olivet is bustling with activity as faculty and staff welcomed new and returning students for the 2024-2025 academic year. In preparation for the start of the school year, the Offices of Student Development and Student Life created a schedule of events providing opportunity for students to engage with one another in fellowship and fun.

Move-In Weekend and Jump Start

students smiling and holding signsDuring move-in weekend, faculty, staff and student leaders from across campus groups helped to celebrate our incoming class of students – our largest group in school history – as they began their Olivet experience. This remarkable group is already enhancing the vibrancy of campus life and culture.

The annual Jump Start conference, which includes guest speakers, worship services, and social activities, allowed the freshman and transfer students to build connections with their peers.

Soon after the other three classes of returning students made their way to campus to begin the academic year.

First Day of Classes and Chapel

On Wednesday, August 28, students attended their first classes as well as the first chapel of the semester. With the whole campus gathered for a time of worship, University Chaplain, Tone Marshall ’13, revealed the theme for the coming semester: Blessed.

Antonio Marshall speaking in chapelIn his message, Tone relayed the definition of blessed as “more than a temporary or circumstantial illusion of happiness. It is a state of well-being in right relationship to God that provides true happiness.”

During Thursday’s chapel service Dr. Gregg Chenoweth discussed the topic of being happy in hardships, sharing, in a moment of vulnerability, testimonies of God’s faithfulness through tragedies from his own life.

“If God had not permitted me that hardship, I wouldn’t be preaching to you today,” Dr. Chenoweth stated. “A loving God permits hardship, pruning from us what is not fruitful. He promises to draw near to the broken hearted.”

Ollies Follies

Olivet’s annual Ollies Follies events, the highly anticipated tradition, Ollies Follies group of students on stagebegan with exciting athletic games following the first day of classes. The energy carried into wacky games later in the week, when students competed in favorite out-of-the-box relay games. The competition finished a week later with the variety show. Each class put together a show that combined video and live performance elements pertaining to the theme “Landmarks.” After an entertaining final night of competition, the sophomore class was declared the winner.

The semester still holds several more exciting events for the Olivet community. For more information about upcoming events on campus, visit olivet.edu/events.

Hannah Priest headshot

Hannah Priest

Hannah Priest ’21/’22 MBA is passionate about people and sharing their stories. After graduating from Olivet with a degree in Public Relations and Strategic Communications, she has found much joy in serving as the associate director of Alumni and University Relations at Olivet and a freelance writer. In her role, she has the ability to celebrate the accomplishments of those in the Olivet community and share stories of their meaningful experiences from their time at ONU and beyond. Outside of her work at Olivet, she is also a feature editor for SPLENDEUR magazine, an up-and-coming small business aimed at encouraging, equipping and empowering women to find their God-given purpose in whatever season of life they are in.

Student on main campus wearing pink sweater and holding water bottle.

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