Over 1,300 sophomores, juniors and seniors made up the Move Crew that greeted the newest Commons residents and their families during the freshman move-in day on Saturday.

Twice as many students volunteered to participate in Move Crew this year, with close to 600 sophomores making up the group who cheered as families drove up to The Commons and then carried each new student’s belongings into the houses, beginning at 7 a.m.

“It’s intense,” said Lilly Massa-McKinley, house manager for East House. “There is a lot of high energy from the students even though it’s a long day. They are very pumped and it’s been really smooth.”

She added that because of the increase in number of volunteers, the process was even more efficient and move-in would probably be completed ahead of schedule.

Freshman Caryn Beister, a new resident of Murray House, said the welcome made her feel less apprehensive about starting college.

“I think it’s fabulous. They kind of just took over the van and detached it limb from limb. I was just sitting here saying ‘thank you’ and they were all smiling, and it was great,” she said.

The enthusiasm went along with the genuine warmth and family atmosphere the family has always found at Vanderbilt, Beister’s mother, Sheryl Casey, said.

“It’s so positive. And it’s not a fake positive, it’s genuine,” she said. “The way Vanderbilt has set this weekend up for parents is totally impressive. You don’t feel like herded cattle.”

“I thought it would be obnoxious but it wasn’t,” said new Hank Ingram House resident Patrick McBride.

He said he and his family thought the system was very organized and really made a difference in the move-in process.  “I think they should continue it for sophomore year,” he said.

Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos said the Move Crew experience showed Vanderbilt at its best.

“It’s much more orderly than you would probably imagine as a college move-in day. … It’s happy and festive and there’s a lot of enthusiasm. And I think the nicest thing that I hear is so many parents say this is the best experience that they’ve ever had moving in or they’re just amazed by the number of student volunteers we have,” he said. “… Parents are saying to me they’ve never seen so many people happy carrying refrigerators or carrying microwaves. I think it’s just a sense of friendship, community and service. And that’s Vanderbilt.”