Every August a few thousand new people move to The Bronx without ever having lived here, and most of them land on one campus. This week we got to be among the first to say welcome.

On Wednesday, August 19, From The Bronx posted up at Fordham University's Urban Plunge to greet the incoming Class of 2030. Urban Plunge is a three-day pre-orientation program run by Fordham's Center for Community Engaged Learning, where new students get to know New York City's neighborhoods through community, history, and engagement before a single class starts.

Every year students arrive knowing The Bronx by reputation. Three days later they are starting to know it through the people who live here. That shift is the whole point of the program, and we're proud to be a small part of it.

This year we also got to put our design work in their hands, literally. From The Bronx printed the official Urban Plunge 2026 tote bags, and watching a few hundred brand new Bronxites walk off campus carrying them was a good feeling. A bag that says you're here, you belong, and there's a borough outside the gates worth exploring.

To the parents who wrote on the Well Wishes Wall: we got them from here. To the students: go out and explore The Bronx. Ride the Bx12. Eat on Arthur Avenue. Walk the Grand Concourse. Find the river. It's all yours now.

Thank you to the Fordham CCEL team for having us, and for building a program that treats the neighborhood as the classroom. If your school, nonprofit, or program has a story to put on a tote, a tee, or anything in between, let's make something together.

From The Bronx to The World!!