Students pour in as rain pours down

Grace Beahm
The Post and Courier

Dozens of volunteers help new College of Charleston students move into the Buist Rivers Residence Hall on Friday during a downpour.

Grace Beahm
The Post and Courier

A heavily burdened Carla Fraser of Murrels Inlet helps her daughter Dani Fraser move onto the College of Charleston campus Friday.

College of Charleston junior Laura Cook moved into a campus residence hall Friday for the fifth time in as many years.

But it was the first time she and her parents had to dodge rainbands as they schlepped her gear from the car into the dorm, said the 20-year-old who also lived away from home her last two years of high school while attending the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics.

"We figure we were due," her mother, Linda Cook, said.

The college recruited student groups to help new students move in. So each time a car filled with a student's belongings pulled up in front of the Buist Rivers Residence Hall, at least 10 students ran up to it, grabbed an arm load and charged into the building. Most cars were unloaded in only one trip.

Richard Cook, Laura's father, said "it was remarkable" how smoothly the move went.

John Campbell, the college's dean of residence life and housing, said the college has residence hall space for about 3,400 students. All of the residence halls are full now, he said, except for a few rooms that are available because students who reserved them decided not to enroll at the college.

The two newest residence halls on campus, the Liberty Street Residence Hall and George Street Apartment Community, had waitinglists, he said. The school was able to accommodate all students who wanted on-campus housing.

Students like to live on campus, he said, if they can live in newer buildings with amenities.

About 2,000 freshmen are enrolled this year, school officials said. About 66 percent of them are women and 34 percent are men. The average SAT score for South Carolina residents was between 1080 and 1230, and most students graduated in the top 16 percent of their high school classes.

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.

College of Charleston Class of 2012

Most common female students' names: Emily, Lauren, Elizabeth

Most common male students' names: William, Andrew, James

Five largest high schools sending students: Wando High School, 85 students; Fort Mill High School, 40 students; Myrtle Beach High School, 29 students; West Ashley High School, 28 students; and Hilton Head High School, 24 students

The class includes:

--The great-grandson of artist Elizabeth O'Neill Verner

--A Coast Guard reservist

--A Congressional Award Gold Medal winner

--A 16-year-old salutatorian with enough transfer credits to be considered a college junior

--Several students who started their own charities

--Students who found their roommates on Facebook

--A student who raised $3,000 for a heart transplant for a student at a rival high school

--The winner of the gold medal in figure skating at the 2006 Keystone State Games.

--A winner of the Eugene O'Neill Young Playwright's Competition

--Several students battling cancer

--A student who learned how to play basketball from College of Charleston standout Jermel President

--A second-degree black belt in tae kwon do

--A student whose first language is Arabic

--A sailor who placed 6th at the International Flying Junior World national sailing competition and 11th at U.S. Nationals

--Recipients of hundreds of awards

--More than 50 first-generation college students, including one from Hawaii

--Two-time SCISA State Triple-Jump Champion

--The daughter of the honorary Consul General of Albania

--A student nominated to be a national congressional page

--A student who played in the marching band featured in country singer Brad Paisley's "Online" video

--A student featured in Bill Clinton's book, "Giving."