Cornell is a welcoming community with a place for everyone. That's the Orientation Week message to new arrivals and their families: some 3,046 freshmen, 283 transfer students and 2,240 new graduate and professional students who will arrive on campus starting this Friday, Aug. 23.

This Friday also is the day that residence halls open and orientation officially begins. The program for newcomers -- a full agenda of activities, from intellectually stimulating to entertaining to just plain fun -- is a collaboration between the student-led Orientation Steering Committee (OSC) and the Office of the Dean of Students.

"We really hope to make the newest members of the campus community feel welcome and at home," said Lisa K'Bedford, almost a new member herself. K'Bedford, who graduated from Cornell in 1996 and became assistant dean of students for new student programs this August, is a fourth generation Cornellian who was an orientation leader as an undergraduate.

What's new at orientation this year? "'First Night' is going to be a much more intimate series of activities," K'Bedford reported. To ease the transition to college life, there will be smaller gatherings in different venues in the residence halls on North Campus, where all freshmen now live, rather than one overwhelmingly large meet-and-greet event as in years past.

Orientation 2002 also marks the last fall that Cornell President Hunter Rawlings will welcome an incoming class before he steps down from his administrative duties next July. Students and families can meet with him at the President's Welcome Reception Friday at 4 p.m. in a tent across from Helen Newman Hall on North Campus and at the President's Convocation Saturday at 9 a.m. in Barton Hall.

In addition, 2002-03 is the year of Frankenstein fever. As part of the First-Year Book Project, all incoming freshmen were invited to read Mary Shelley's book about a human-made monster, written in 1816 but still relevant, and think about its contemporary meanings. (The book also is being read by the Cornell and Ithaca communities.) To launch the yearlong focus on Frankenstein , there will be a Cornell panel discussion on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in Barton Hall. And on Monday, there will be a Monster Meal at 5:30 p.m. in Cornell Dining eateries all over campus, with such fare as monster mashed potatoes and spooky salads.

Other Orientation Week highlights:

• On Friday at 4 p.m. in Goldwin Smith Hall's Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium there will be a "Just for Parents" session led by Cornell senior lecturer Christine Schelhas-Miller, the author of Don't Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Parenting Guide to the College Years.
• On Saturday at 7 p.m., in the Robert Purcell Community Center (RPCC) on North Campus, there will be an overview of first-year writing seminars, sponsored by the John S. Knight Writing Program. At 9 p.m., there will be a concert in Sage Chapel by the Glee Club and Chorus and an ice-breaking party for new students in RPCC also at 9.
• On Sunday at noon in RPCC, new students can meet former Rhodes and Marshall scholars and get tips on applying for the prestigious fellowships. At 1 p.m. on the front lawn of Risley Hall, the Cornell branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism, which recreates aspects of medieval and Renaissance culture, is holding armored combat and fencing sessions. And at 7 p.m. in RPCC there will be an informative talk about sex, sponsored by the OSC, Cornell's Gannett Health Services and Planned Parenthood of Tompkins County.

Most Orientation Week activities are being coordinated by the undergraduate student members of the OSC, who have been planning for the week since last October. They include co-chairs Fred Isquith, Jr. '04 and Silvia Odorcic '03 and committee members David Bletsch '04, Trevor Chlanda '03, Kathryn Howell '04, Jamie Maxner '03, Brandon Otto '04 and Terri Zelasko '04. They will be assisted, beginning Friday, by more than 400 students who have volunteered to be orientation supervisors, orientation leaders and welcome volunteers.

A complete list of Orientation Week events is available online at http://www.sao.cornell.edu/orientation/ .