BATON ROUGE — Hundreds of new Jaguars are preparing for their college journey as Southern University's freshman move-in day began on Monday.

The three-day process is an organized plan for arrivals that is split by building and student status. The move-in on Monday is specifically for freshmen who live in Totty and Jones halls, with students who live in Shade, Bradford, Bethune, Reed, White and Grandison halls moving in on Tuesday. 

Returning students living in university apartments and Boley Hall will move back on Thursday. 

Southern University has seen significant growth in its enrollment since the pandemic, causing it to increase security around the campus. 

"We do have an additional eight to 10 surveillance cameras that's going to be monitoring the movement of students and faculty across the campus," Lt. Kenneth Guy with the Southern University Police Department said. "We're going to make sure our emergency towers are accessible to the faculty and staff, so if something does happen, you can activate that tower and our officers will be there in an instant."

Lt. Guy also said that students should make sure that their friends and families know where they are at all times to help keep them safe.