Welcome Week 2026 was the biggest in Palmetto Ridge history. More than 1,800 students attended at least one event during the first week of the fall term, from the involvement fair on Hawks Field to late-night bingo in Ridgeview Commons.
The standout event was “Raíces & Roots,” a joint celebration organized by the Latinx Student Alliance and the Black Student Union. The evening featured a salsa and line-dance mashup, a shared menu of pupusas, jollof rice, and Lowcountry red rice, and a panel of students talking about what home means to them.
We realized our members had so much in common: family, food, music, being first to go to college. Why not throw one big party instead of two smaller ones?
— Sofía Marquez, President, Latinx Student Alliance
Seeing four hundred people on the dance floor together on the first week of school told new students exactly what kind of place this is.
— Andre Coleman, President, Black Student Union
Something for everyone
Other highlights included a family picnic for student parents, an adult learner coffee hour, a Pride Alliance welcome mixer, a sensory-friendly quiet hour at the involvement fair, and a veterans cookout hosted by the Student Veterans of America chapter. International students led a flag parade representing 22 countries.
Students who missed Welcome Week can still join any of the college’s more than 50 clubs. Browse the full list on the Hawk Portal.