UW-Whitewater freshmen get a crash course in the meaning of "being purple"

(Adjacent photo courtesy of UW-Whitewater athletics)

The 2011 UW-Whitewater freshman class are NOW officially Warhawks. Thursday afternoon’s Hawkfest followed by R U Purple inside Perkins Stadium is flat-out, one of the most unique ways of getting incoming students to be "proud to be purple."

The R U Purple event Thursday night was designed to introduce U-Dub-Dub freshmen to what it means to be a UW-Whitewater Warhawk.

On a hot, humid pre-Labor Day Thursday evening, a steady stream of UWW freshman students burst through the entrance to Perkins Stadium, running through a human pathway that stretched across the Perkins Stadium FieldTurf. They were slapping hands with faculty, staff and students to blaring music and rousing cheers.

“All they know is that it’s tradition here on campus, and it starts with them, but they don’t know anything else,” Kim Moistner-Bartlett, assistant dean of student life and the First Year Experience program indicated during the Thursday night “Welcome to UW-Whitewater” event.

The “U-Dub-Dub” event is part of the university’s approach to freshman orientation that started in 2008. The program focuses on creating connections, something previous freshman classes lacked, said Kim Simes of the First Year Experience program.

The First Year Experience staff realized they needed to start with pride.
“Our program, our goals are all about helping students feel like they have a connection here at UW-Whitewater and ultimately that this is home to them,” Simes said.

R U Purple has had a very unique conclusion in each of its four years. The “frosh” file out of the Perk and march over to Warhawk Drive adjacent to Williams Center. The reason? To paint the street leading to Perkins Stadium PURPLE!

Let me ask one more time – R U Purple?