Day One: At Southbound Orientation, New Jaguars Start Their Journey
Posted on July 18, 2025
The campus is still for now. At 7:15 a.m., light spills across the sidewalks of the University. It feels almost too calm.
But inside the Mitchell Center, momentum is building.
In a tucked-away classroom, students in red polos, khaki shorts and sneakers are gathering. Some of them have added flair 鈥 like the guy with the red, white and blue metallic USA shaker streaming from the back of his baseball cap.
Student orientation leaders 鈥 OLs, as they call themselves 鈥 file in with iced coffees and water bottles in hand. This is the fifth Southbound Orientation session, out of eight, for the summer. They鈥檙e veterans, by now. But if they鈥檙e tired, you wouldn鈥檛 know it.
Within minutes, a group of OLs rushes to the loading dock, returning with towering boxes of doughnuts 鈥 which have arrived late 鈥 for the concourse refreshment areas. Some clip on microphones to help corral parents and students to their check-in stations. Others grab safety vests and make their way outside.
This is where they get their spark, their charge. It鈥檚 their 鈥淟et鈥檚 do this鈥 moment.
Places, everyone
On the concourse, 鈥渕aking sure everything flows,鈥 Aeriel Frazier doesn鈥檛 need a pump-up speech. She鈥檚 got it in her bones. A rising junior in nursing, she鈥檚 in her second year as an OL. Amid the chaos, her laid-back confidence and smile radiate a welcome that can calm even the most anxious of freshmen.
On the other side of the concourse, Kiley Hayes is energized at check-in. A year ago, she was on the other side of the table. Now she鈥檚 handing out lanyards, calling names, and answering rapid-fire questions from wide-eyed students and their families.
Today, Aeriel and Kiley will co-lead a group of 30 incoming freshmen, many of whom are fellow nursing majors.
By 8 a.m., a small group of families gathers outside the building鈥檚 front door. Parents take photos of their kids with the 鈥淐hallenge鈥 basketball sculpture. Everyone smiles for selfies. They fan themselves in the heat. And wait.
Within an hour, the building鈥檚 entrance is packed.
At 9 a.m., the OLs open the doors and more than 410 new students and their families pour in. There鈥檚 nervous laughter, eyes darting toward signs and tables, and the overwhelming buzz of first-day energy.
Then, she sees her roommate in the crowd. Trista Necaise is from Pass Christian, Mississippi. Today, she and Emma Grayce are in nearly matching outfits 鈥 pink and white 鈥 purely by chance. For the past two months, the girls have been meeting in Mobile, the halfway point between their two small towns, to shop, hang out and go to concerts.
They hug and laugh. With their parents, they wander through the maze of booths along the concourse 鈥 Career Development, Recreation and Wellness, ROTC, Study Abroad and so much more.
That鈥檚 when everything starts to feel a little more real.
Clockwise from the top, students and their families crowd the concourse of the Mitchell Center as Southbound orientation kicks off; students check in as they enter; among the families at an orientation session this week were the Fuquas 鈥 Leah and Dennis with their daughter, Emma Grayce; Trista Necaise and Emma Grayce Fuqua, who will be roommates, pick up some new Jag Swag.
Lights. Music. Mascot. Mission.
The arena dims. A booming soundtrack begins. The Southbound opening session is a spectacle, like a pep rally, with action-packed videos, cheerleaders, SouthPaw, and the first official welcome from University President Jo Bonner and Dr. Andi Kent, executive vice president and provost.
鈥淲e want to help you be successful, graduate in four years, get a degree and have an experience that is truly unlike anything else you would get anywhere else you might go,鈥 Bonner tells the incoming freshmen.
Kent continues with a message that feels as personal as it is prepared.
鈥淲e are going to be here with you as you move in, in a few weeks, and throughout your journey here as a South 星空传媒 Jaguar.鈥 Both tell students and parents that they will be able to reach them on their cell phones.
The welcome session culminates with everyone 鈥渢hrowing a J鈥 鈥 holding up their left hands, forefinger and thumb outstretched to form a 鈥淛,鈥 and shouting, 鈥淕o Jags!鈥
Emma Grayce watches from her seat, beaming. She remembers Bonner and Kent visiting her high school last year. They rode the bus with her and her classmates to campus. That stuck with her.
Soon, there鈥檚 a parting of ways; students leave with their assigned groups while parents stay behind.
In the Mitchell Center arena, students and their families are welcomed by SouthPaw, take a selfie with President Jo Bonner and learn the fight song from cheerleaders and orientation leaders.
Rallying the groups
Kiley leads, raising her 鈥淕roup 3鈥 sign high above the sea of heads. Aeriel chats with a cluster of students about prerequisites, schedules and faculty.
They head toward Moulton Tower and Alumni Plaza. Beneath its shadow, they form a circle 鈥 names, hometowns, majors and a 鈥渇un fact.鈥 It鈥檚 awkward at first. Of course it is. Kiley loosens things up with her own fun fact: Just one year ago, she was one of them. Then she scanned a QR code at a booth on the concourse to become an OL. And here she is, leading the first group they鈥檒l ever be a part of in their college experience. They鈥檙e from 星空传媒, Florida, Louisiana, Texas 鈥 and now, South.
Next, Ariel directs the students for a keepsake moment: a group photo at the SouthPaw statue.
At lunch, the Student Center cafeteria buzzes with chatter over Chick-fil-A, Chinese food and barbecue sandwiches. The OLs split up, sitting to eat with different sections of their group. Conversations start slow and then take off: hometowns, moving away, residence hall setups, class schedules, Greek life, favorite snacks, social media.
Emma Grayce looks familiar to some; after she chose South, she made a now-viral 鈥渂ed video鈥 showcasing her room decked out in red, white and blue, filled with the school鈥檚 regalia as the fight song played in the background.
By the end of lunch, the group is already connecting on various social channels.
鈥淵ou go to follow or add them, and you already have mutual friends, which is so cool,鈥 Emma Grayce says. 鈥淎nd we started looking at our class schedules and where we鈥檙e living, and I have classes with this girl named Riley, and I live across from this other girl. It鈥檚 a big campus, but it鈥檚 a small world.鈥
After separating from their parents, students take off across campus. Icebreakers are on the agenda at Moulton Tower and Alumni Plaza, and, of course, there's always time for a photo at the SouthPaw statue, where Group 3 is flanked by Orientation Leaders Aeriel Frazier, left, and Kiley Hayes.
Finding your people
Outside, at the Student Center amphitheater, combined Southbound groups tie on brightly colored bandanas 鈥 randomly assigned 鈥 to team up for the Southbound Olympics.
It鈥檚 a twist on field day with a dash of 鈥淪urvivor鈥 and a whole lot of dodgeball, tug-of-war, scheming in the shade and intense high-fives between people who only met a few hours ago.
Emma Grayce鈥檚 team 鈥 the white bandanas 鈥 is all business. There鈥檚 a time to make friends and a time to try to win. They place third 鈥 not winners, but not 鈥渧oted off the island鈥 like the orange and yellow teams. They cheer like champions.
It鈥檚 hot, but fun. And if there isn鈥檛 time to get to know each other on the field, there will be familiar faces on campus later, along with shouts of, 鈥淗ey, you were on the purple bandana team of Southbound Survivor! I recognize you!鈥
The rest of the afternoon brings more walking 鈥 a campus mini-tour with stops at Meisler Hall, the student services building, and the Marx Library. They鈥檝e toured these buildings before, but not with their future classmates.
Then comes the campus involvement fair. Organizations line the walkways, calling out to students, handing out swag, answering questions.
Southbound Olympics at the Student Center are part of orientation. Teams are signified by colored bandanas as backpacks are set aside for the competition.
Parent HQ
Meanwhile, in quieter rooms at Mitchell Center, parents are having their own orientation experience 鈥 a catered lunch of jerk chicken and plantains in the arena followed by sessions on financial aid, housing, safety and academics.
Dennis and Leah Fuqua laugh their way through a trivia game called 鈥淲hat Would a Jag Parent Do?鈥
鈥淲e鈥檙e ready for her to move,鈥 Leah says, laughing. 鈥淲e鈥檙e ready for her to get going.鈥
Both are impressed by what they鈥檝e learned today.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been very personable,鈥 Leah says of the Southbound experience, 鈥渧ery customized to us as parents, and to the students, too.鈥
鈥淎s a father, you know, when your child is leaving home for the first time in a mostly permanent situation, you want it to be a safe environment, you want it to be welcoming, you want it to have a sense of home to it,鈥 Dennis says. 鈥淪outh has checked all those boxes thus far. 鈥 It seems that South really pushes student involvement, so that also checks a box.鈥
And the couple finally got the chance to connect with Trista鈥檚 parents. Throughout the summer, their daughters 鈥 future roommates 鈥 have bonded, but the Fuquas had never met the Necaises before. It鈥檚 an instant friendship.
鈥淲e hit it off with them. As a matter of fact, we鈥檝e attended every session together,鈥 Dennis says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already making some plans for the fall, doing some tailgating and maybe hitting the Auburn-South game out of town.鈥
When their daughter returns to them, she鈥檚 got new priorities 鈥 applying for early admission to the nursing program, buying her parking pass. A whole list of things.
鈥淲ell,鈥 Leah tells her, 鈥淚t looks like you need to get busy.鈥
Southbound orientation sessions last throughout the summer at both the Mitchell Center
and the Student Center. New Jaguars will return to campus to move in on Aug. 16.
