With the wrap of APEX Weekend, the school year is just beginning to heat up. As the final students and faculty arrive on campus, everyone is doing their best to prepare for the year to come. Before diving into upcoming events, no greeting would be complete without meeting the new faculty members. This year, Lt. Gen. Ronald Bailey is joining the team as the vice president for external affairs here at APSU. Sports fans can look forward to the presence of the new athletics director, Gerald Harrison.

Older and prospective students alike will be interested to hear that APSU is now offering a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree in Educational Leadership for K-12 professionals.

Though the school year is young, there are many events to follow and look forward to. An Involvement Fair will be held on Thursday, August 30, at 9:30 a.m.

Shortly after, students will be leaving for their first break with Labor Day Weekend on September 3. Wrapping up the main events of September will be the annual Eat Free, Or Live Free on Monday, September 17, at 10 p.m. Ushering in the autumn season is fall break, falling on October 15-16. As an alternative to traditional trick-or-treating, APSU’s Halloween celebration, G.H.O.S.T. event will be held Sunday, October 38, 3-7 p.m. just days before the holiday. The following month, November, brings in more breaks and begins the countdown to exams in December. Students can look forward to a long weekend with the Veteran’s Day holiday, which will be observed on November 12. Later in the month, everyone will have the opportunity to spend time with their families with Thanksgiving break on November 21-25. December, the final month of the year and the fall semester, brings in final exams.

The last day of classes will be December 5 and immediately followed by a study day on December 6. Afterwards, exams will take place on December 7-13. Everyone will be able to celebrate with a well-deserved winter break. For those interested in Panhellenic Recruitment this fall, watch out for events August 30-September 3. Orientation takes place on Thursday, August 30, and be followed by Values Night on Friday, August 31. The weekend will hold Philanthropy Night and Preference Night on Saturday, September 1 and Sunday, September 2 respectively. Finishing off recruitment will be Bid Day on Monday, September 3.

Moving forward, there are many other events popping up every day. For the more sports-oriented students and faculty, this football seasons is just getting started. With players in training, Gov fans can look for upcoming games against Tennessee Tech University, Jacksonville State University and Eastern Kentucky University. Watch out for the first game where the APSU Governors will take on the Georgia Bulldogs. The showdown begins Saturday, September 1, at 2:30 p.m. Head out to the University of Georgia to watch it live, or stay at home and tune in to ESPN.

This year, the APSU Department of Art + Design has a first of its kind line up of exhibitions and speakers. This semester, students can attend exhibitions from McLean Fahnestock, Wendy Red Star and Valery Jung Estabrook. The upcoming speakers are Amy Sherald, Kaye Vassey and Sharon Louden. These displays will be available at The New Gallery during Clarksville’s First Thursday Art Crawls. The New Gallery will also continue to be open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Don’t forget to experience all this year has to offer. Welcome back, Governors.