Thousands of Otters enjoy excitement of Move-in Day

By Caitlin Fillmore

Ailey Whiteman unpacked totes of new supplies for her freshman year while scoping out a preferred bed in her triple-capacity Sanderling Hall room. Even her little brother got into the act, wiping down the interior of the soon-to-be-hers closet.

Whiteman, a Truckee native, came to Cal State Monterey Bay to study biology alongside her childhood friend, freshman kinesiology student Ashley Moore. They were two of the approximately  3,100 students moving onto the bustling campus on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 20 and 21, as the 2025 academic year begins. Hundreds of other students were already living in the dorms in order to attend summer semester, or for training and other programs.

“As of last night, we had zero empty beds,” said Sam Burke, residential life coordinator.

Members of the Otter Welcome Team, wearing blue “I Can Help You!” shirts, gathered in the bright sunshine starting at 9 a.m. With the help of dozens of rented industrial laundry carts, new Otters quickly moved into the dorms, such as the freshly renovated Sanderling and Tortuga Halls. 

Each new resident had an appointment time to unload their mini fridges, bedsheets, rolls of paper towels and other standard living supplies. Doors were labeled with the new roommates’ names in their floor’s theme: SpongeBob SquarePants, marine animals and Labubus.

The first 1,000 students arrived on Wednesday, with 2,100 more scheduled to move in the following day. 

"Move-In Day is one of my favorite times of the year,” said CSUMB President Vanya Quiñones. “Nothing compares to the excitement of seeing our Otter Raft grow each fall.”

Capacity has increased with 700 new housing assignments to meet that growth.

“We’ve expanded student housing from 3,200 to more than 3,900 assignments in just two years,” said Quiñones, “Because we know that safe, supportive housing is the foundation for our Otters’ success." 

Jake Abbott and his father, Dan, unpacked garbage bags of clothing in Tortuga Hall, while Jake’s twin sister and mom did the same across campus. For Dan, dropping his twins off at CSUMB meant more than a “good but emotional” life milestone.

Move-in Day is the beginning of Otter Days, a weeklong series of activities for new and returning students. Jake, a global studies major from El Dorado Hills, had a list of Otter Days activities he wanted to check out in the next few days, from mixers to cookouts to a class-finding tour.

“I’m a little sad and nervous,” said Jake, when asked about saying goodbye to his parents. “I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m excited to figure it out.”

Meanwhile, the Whiteman family was still hard at work. Ailey’s mother, Nicole, was touching up the newly renovated bathroom. Ailey is her first child to leave home for college, and Nicole said her husband was being pretty cool about it all, dispensing classic Dad advice like, “Make good choices.”

Like many parents, Nicole was feeling a bit more anxious.

“I will call her tonight. Or this afternoon,” she said. “Or maybe five minutes after I leave.”

Ailey and her roommate, Ashley, planned to check out bingo and the float-in movie during Otter Days. But first, they were both eager to get settled in and decorate.

Their only concern? Almost simultaneously, they both said, “Hopefully, the boys across the hall aren’t too loud.”