UGA Welcomes Students Back with Week of Fun

The official dedication of the Tate Student Center expansion will headline a week of free events designed to welcome students back to the University of Georgia for the upcoming school year.

Other Welcome Week activities include concerts by comedy-musicians The Dan Band and country singer Kellie Pickler and the first Dawgs After Dark late-night event of the school year. The dedication ceremony will be held on Thursday, Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. in the Tate Grand Hall. All members of the campus community are invited.

Welcome Week kicks off with a performance by The Dan Band on Sunday, Aug. 16 at 8 p.m. on Legion Field. Known for its pop music parodies, the Los Angeles-based band has served as the house band on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Lead singer Dan Finnerty has appeared in the films The Terminal, Starsky & Hutch and The Hangover. Non-student tickets for The Dan Band are $10 in advance and $20 at the gate.

Pickler will take the stage in the Tate Grand Hall on Thursday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. A finalist on American Idol in 2006, Pickler has released two albums and has toured extensively, appearing in two USO tours in Iraq. Her debut album, Small Town Girl, has been certified Gold by Billboard magazine for sales of more than 500,000 units. Non-student tickets to see Pickler are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

Welcome Week concludes on Friday, Aug. 21 with Dawgs After Dark: Backyard BBQ from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the Tate Student center. Activities will include inflatable games, an arcade, and free food. Non-student admission is $5.

All Welcome Week events are free for students with valid UGACards who pay activity fees on the Athens campus. The Dan Band and Kellie Pickler concerts are ticketed events. Students must present their valid UGACards to claim their free tickets at the cashier window in the Tate Student Center which is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about the Tate Students Center dedication and other Welcome Week events, call (706) 542-6396 or see www.uga.edu/campuslife.