Glen and Sydney Hankins moved one of their two twin daughters into Fairmount Towers on Saturday.

“It’s a milestone,” Glen Hankins said. “It’s time. As parents, you’ve got to learn how to start letting go.”

Cars and trucks loaded with mini fridges and desk supplies lined the drives of Fairmount Towers and Shocker Hall. Hundreds of student volunteers were on hand with cardboard boxes on wheels to help families unload, find the right room and get comfortable on their first day at Wichita State.

The Hankins drove from Ark City to drop off their daughter, Emily, an incoming freshman studying secondary education.

“It’s a lot to take in,” she said. “I’m really excited to adjust and get involved with the university. It kind of makes me nervous but I’m so excited it kind of cancels it out.”

While the Hankins were dropping off their first college student, Yvon Marcotte sent off her last college student.

“It’s not so much nerve-racking, it’s emotional,” said Marcotte, who has a senior and a freshman now at WSU. “It’s hard when it’s your last one.

“We didn’t have these children so they’d run away,” she said, laughing.

A week before move-in day, an international student living in Fairmount Towers during the summer was found shot in the dorm’s parking lot, police said at the time. He later died at the hospital.

The next day, two people were arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the case, arrest reports show.

“This was not a random act of violence,” said Lou Heldman, vice president of Strategic Communications at WSU. “These were people that had a prior relationship with the student who was killed.”

Because police say the shooting was not random, Susan Camp said she’s not worried for the new residents at Fairmount.

“I feel like they’re safe,” she said. “That wasn’t a random thing.”

Mark Slivka, an incoming freshman studying aerospace engineering, was a volunteer at Fairmount on Saturday.

“I don’t feel worried about the incident last week because it wasn’t random,” he said.

Incoming freshman Trevor Standifer also said he feels safe in his new home at Shocker Hall.

“There’s security here,” said Standifer, who is studying mechanical and computer engineering. “I feel safe here. I’m not really that scared of anything, anyway.”

As soon as Standifer parked outside Shocker Hall, two volunteers were there to help load boxes — each sealed with duct tape.

“I was expecting to have to carry it all up by myself,” he said. “I really appreciate all this.”

Javier Martinez, a sophomore international student, said he wasn’t as welcomed when he arrived at the Wichita airport last year, so he appreciated being able to welcome the new dorm residents Saturday.

“If they’re shy and they see all these helping guys around, they will feel like they’re at home,” he said.