Food, music and T-shirts draw students to KU’s annual Hawk Week events

Sure, there’s the free concert, lots of free food, games, a chance to hear from the new football coach and a whole host of other activities for new KU students coming up.

Hawk Week events

Highlights of the 2010 Hawk Week schedule for new Kansas University students. For a complete list, visit hawkweek.ku.edu.

Sunday

• Unionfest: All Aboard the U.S.S. Jayhawk, 8 p.m.-11 p.m., Kansas Union

Monday

• Personal Class Schedule Tours, 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., bronze Jayhawk in front of Strong Hall. Same times on Tuesday and Wednesday.

• Ice Cream Social, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Adams Alumni Center

• Traditions Night, 8 p.m., Memorial Stadium

• Night On The Hill: SafetySuit, 9 p.m., Campanile Hill

Tuesday

• Beach ‘n’ Boulevard featuring the Info Fair, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Wescoe Beach

• Hawk Link Block Party, 9 p.m.-11 p.m., Wescoe Beach

• Rock-A-Hawk, 11 p.m.-1 a.m., Daisy Hill

Wednesday

• Take Over the Beach, 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Wescoe Beach

• Roll with Dole, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Dole Institute of Politics

• The 145th Opening Convocation, 7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Lied Center

Thursday

First day of classes

• Back to School BBQ, 5 p.m.-7 p.m., Mrs. E’s, GSP and Oliver dining halls

• Rock the Rec, 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center

Friday

• Family Arts Festival, 6 p.m., Lied Center

• Free concert with Jeffery Broussard & The Creole Cowboys, 7 p.m., Lied Center

• Movie on the Hill: “Iron Man 2,” 9 p.m., Daisy Hill

Saturday

• Center for Community Outreach Service Project, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m., meet on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union at 10:30 a.m.

But Megan Baker, organizer of Kansas University’s annual Hawk Week, knows the big draw.

“We can never have too many T-shirts,” she said. “They always want one of those T-shirts.”

Still, there are plenty of other major events during the week of Aug. 16, leading up to the first day of fall classes on Aug. 19. New KU football coach Turner Gill will speak at Traditions Night, an annual gathering at Memorial Stadium when new students learn how to wave the wheat and chant Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.

An outdoor concert featuring the band SafetySuit will immediately follow the Monday evening Traditions Night.

A new event this year will bring together transfer students on Monday, Aug. 16, at Mia’s Italian Restaurant, 1540 Wakarusa Drive.

During previous Hawk Weeks, there haven’t been opportunities designed specifically for transfer students, Baker said, saying she hoped that the promise of free appetizers for those students would encourage some camaraderie among the group.

On Aug. 18, KU will host its traditional opening Convocation for students, faculty and staff, featuring a speech from Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little.

Library tours, class tours and other campus orientation sessions will be available, too, as new students get acclimated to their surroundings.

“We have lots of fun activities for students to get involved and learn a little bit about living in the KU community and the Lawrence community,” Baker said.