Ah, New Student Orientation academic advising — those legendary days when hopeful students and their parents flooded campus, determined to dodge 8:00 a.m. classes and anything on a Friday. As summer NSO advising wraps up, it's the perfect time to revisit the unforgettable moments of NSOs past. One highlight was the University Diversion Singers, a spirited ensemble of advisors (with some friends from other units) led by the ever-musical Jay Showalter. Their parodies, like “If This Is Heaven” set to “Dancing Cheek to Cheek,” were both hilarious and oddly relatable—“Heck, I’d love to use the bathroom... But until the third week of July, that prospect’s looking bleak.” Fortunately, a video of their 2012 performance of “Tiptoe Up to Teter” lives on in the archives.
We’d be remiss not to mention “Auto Frank,” a cardboard stand-in for then-director Frank Reiter, always ready for tricky student-parent encounters. The Auto Frank calendar chronicled his campus adventures—from the IMU Starbucks to the Warm Glow Candle Outlet—providing much-needed comic relief. Of course, no Teter-era NSO was complete without a few critters (hello, bats and possums), the occasional exploding floor tile, and lovingly shared snacks during peak exhaustion. Let’s not forget the “official documents” that poked gentle fun at university programs like course bundles.
Here’s to good times, shared laughter, and the enduring spirit of the advising community.