Students celebrate first day back at USM’s Gulf Park campus

LONG BEACH, Miss. (WXXV) — The University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Park campus in Long Beach is welcoming students back for the fall semester, with many events planned this week. We also got to hear about some projects underway at the campus.

Students are returning to campus and going back to class on Monday at USM here on The Coast. Campus leaders say there are plenty of projects and events in the works to look forward to this year.

Classes are back in session and students were seen going in and out of buildings, grabbing free T-shirts and socializing with their classmates for their first day back. Welcome week will be filled with events for students, helping them to connect with others and make new friends. Students are starting the year off right with free activities like a bingo and pizza event held Monday afternoon.

Student Government Association President McKenna Klamm says that events like this help students connect with one another in ways they may not have been able to before due to the college being a nontraditional campus.

Also, the Gulf Park campus has around $15 million worth of construction projects underway. That includes a new building which will house the School for Language Disorders, and then renovations are expected to begin soon in one of the main buildings on campus.

Associate Provost Jeff Hinton says the projects will help support new programs at the college.

We will of course keep you updated on those projects and we hope all Gulf Park campus students have a wonderful year ahead.