{"id":387717,"date":"2026-09-02T00:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T00:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/387717\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T00:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T00:34:08","slug":"yuengling-center-balloon-drop-welcomes-freshmen-returning-bulls-to-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/387717\/","title":{"rendered":"Yuengling Center Balloon Drop welcomes freshmen, returning Bulls to new year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>This year\u2019s Week of Welcome kick-off hosted over 4,000 students in USF\u2019s Yuengling Center. ORACLE PHOTO\/COLE ABRUZZESE<\/p>\n

On Aug. 23, USF\u2019s Center for Student Involvement<\/a> hosted the annual Week of Welcome Balloon Drop<\/a> as a way to kick off the new academic year.<\/p>\n

Week of Welcome is a series of events hosted by New Student Connections before and during the first week of classes, according to their website.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u200bThe Week of Welcome kickoff had been held in the Marshall Student Center (MSC) in the past, but was moved to the Yuengling Center<\/a>, USF\u2019s on-campus arena, for this year\u2019s event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allison Crume, associate vice president for student success and dean of undergraduate studies, said that the balloon drop tradition began in 2011 as a New Year\u2019s-themed event, with the balloons referencing New York City\u2019s Times Square Ball Drop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MSC\u2019s maintenance crew designed a device and worked with the balloon decorating vendor to release a net full of beach balls and balloons over the atrium to meet the request, and the balloon drop tradition was born,\u201d Crume said.<\/p>\n

She said the decision to move the Balloon Drop to the Yuengling was part of this year\u2019s goal to elevate the Week of Welcome and engage more students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity presented to move the event to the Yuengling Center on Sunday night when significantly more students were on campus and could attend this high-energy, beloved USF tradition in the larger venue,\u201d Crume said.<\/p>\n

Crume said the event had been capped at 2,500 attendees in the past due to safety restrictions imposed by the Fire Marshall in the MSC, but this year\u2019s event had 4,100 people in attendance.<\/p>\n

While the balloon drop is the big finale, the event is used for several other announcements, performances, and speeches, such as a special performance from the cheer team and a speech from USF President Moez Limayem.<\/p>\n

\u200bFor Jade Howard, a freshman health science major, the balloon drop was a part of getting her excited for her first year and feeling more connected to campus life.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201dI felt really excited because I saw that USF had so many new opportunities that I never would have experienced before,\u201d Howard said. \u201cBut I was also anxious because I would be on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard said she believes that Week of Welcome is a good way to get ready for student life at USF.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Welcome Week event basically silenced all the anxieties I had about being at college,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt even more connected to my friends and student life there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bHoward, who moved in on Aug. 20, went with a high school friend and another student she met that same day. She said that she left the event feeling encouraged to make connections and get involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I learned that I could basically walk around and hang out with whoever at all times of the day and do numerous different activities,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u200bHoward said the event also boosted her attitude and excitement for the new year.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cBy going, I felt more excited to be an incoming Bull,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Related: Dining updates, on-campus events \u2014 Welcome Back Fall 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Mia Veiga, a sophomore majoring in criminology, started her freshman year in spring 2026 and didn\u2019t get the chance to experience the typical fall semester activity lineup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t a balloon drop [in spring], to my knowledge \u2014 that\u2019s only a fall thing to welcome in the \u2018new year\u2019 of classes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Veiga said even though her spring semester welcome events were different, she didn\u2019t feel like she missed out by starting later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that my first semester being in spring was weakened,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it honestly depends on the type of person you are. I happen to be very positive, optimistic, and I\u2019m an extrovert, so making friends and having a good time on campus was easy after some time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, curiosity about the fall tradition drew her to this year\u2019s event. Veiga said there was something meaningful about finally getting to see a tradition she\u2019d only heard about from friends who started in the fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to go to the balloon drop because there wasn\u2019t one in spring, and I saw about it online, so I was interested in experiencing it,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was definitely a good population of other classes other than freshmen, so that was nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her excitement about the event, Veiga had some mixed feelings about the event being moved from the MSC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe energy in the upper seats wasn\u2019t really there, so that was a bit of a bummer,\u201d Veiga said. \u201cI can see how the idea of it being held in a stadium would be a better vibe, but it just didn\u2019t pan out right, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: Waka Flocka Flame brings the party to USF\u2019s Homecoming concert<\/a><\/p>\n

Robert Dennison, a junior history major, said this year\u2019s Balloon Drop was his first Week of Welcome event after skipping it for two years, and he said he left with a stronger desire to get involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know nothing directly has changed compared to the last two years,\u201d Dennison said. \u201c[But] now I have this small feeling like, \u2018Hey, I did something, I\u2019ll keep doing something.’\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dennison said the event was a great experience for upperclassmen to remember to stay involved on campus<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say go, if not just for the chance to see the Tampa campus,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice opportunity to wander around a part of the school you wouldn\u2019t otherwise go to.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said there were a lot of people at the event, but the crowd made the experience more memorable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely think [the Yuengling Center] is a good spot for [the event],\u201d Dennison said. \u201cIt\u2019s a really good way of showing how many students were involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Dennison, the event was a kind of \u201creset\u201d, or a chance to approach the year differently than he had in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know next year I\u2019m probably not going to have that chance since it\u2019ll be my last, so we\u2019ve got to make this one count,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s Week of Welcome kick-off hosted over 4,000 students in USF\u2019s Yuengling Center. ORACLE PHOTO\/COLE ABRUZZESE On…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-387717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}