UBC students move into residence for 100th anniversary year

UBC's Thunderbird men's football team got a work-out today helping thousands of students move into residence.

About 6,000 students will be makecampus their home in the coming days and the football team helped the first arrivals haul their belongings up to their rooms on Saturday.

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"I want our student body to meet the young men who take to the field every Saturday to represent our school,"said coach BlakeNill.I want them to take pride in the team, their team, and what they stand for."

About 50,000 students will study at UBC in this centennial year for the university. That compares with the first class of 379 students in 1915.

The Vancouver campus has about 10,000 beds for students, making it the largest student housing operator in Canada, according to UBC.

Housing needs

"Demand is still far greater than supply," saidAndrew Parr, managing director of UBC Student Housing and Hospitality Services.

"The Vancouver rental market isn't growing fast enough and that means students are looking to the university to provide more."

Five planned projects will boost accommodation up to 12,471 beds during the next five years.

In the short-term, Ponderosa Phase 2 is set to open its doors to 303 students on Labour Day weekend and another 252 students in January of 2016.

Orchard Commons is expected to be finished by the summer of 2016 which will provide rooms for 1,049 first-year students.

That means, the T-Birdsfootball team may need some more help next year.