"Frances Willard," "Orrington Lunt" and other leaders from Northwestern University's history will be on hand to greet new students when they arrive on campus Friday, Sept. 15. As part of Northwestern's celebration of its 150th anniversary, students dressed in period costume representing historical figures were stationed at most of the residence halls on campus between 9 am and noon of the official move-in period on Sept. 15, 2000.

Approximately 1,900 freshmen and 125 transfer students moved into Northwestern's residence halls Friday, as the University begins a new school year. As the new students arrived, a costumed student representing the person for whom the residence hall is named or another historical figure greeted them and promoted activities for new students. In addition, each residence has a newly created information board that details the history of the building and the person for whom it was named.

Many of Northwestern's residence halls are named after important figures in the University's history or financial benefactors. Willard Hall, for example, is named after Frances Willard, who was the first dean of women at Northwestern after the University became coeducational in the 1870s. Willard later went on to found the Women's Christian Temperance Union, a leading organization in the temperance movement. Orrington Lunt, for whom a main street in Evanston is named, was a commodities broker in the 19th century who was one of Northwestern's founders and a key financial supporter. The activities, which are sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of the Sesquicentennial, are designed to give new students a sense of the University's history in conjunction with the Sesquicentennial celebration.