diff --git a/backend/pom.xml b/backend/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1576d4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+    <parent>
+        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
+        <version>3.4.1</version>
+        <relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
+    </parent>
+    <groupId>com.rit</groupId>
+    <artifactId>portal</artifactId>
+    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <name>Freshers Hub Backend</name>
+    <description>Centralized Spring Boot backend for RIT Freshers Hub</description>
+    <url/>
+    <licenses>
+        <license/>
+    </licenses>
+    <developers>
+        <developer/>
+    </developers>
+    <scm>
+        <connection/>
+        <developerConnection/>
+        <tag/>
+        <url/>
+    </scm>
+    <properties>
+        <java.version>21</java.version>
+    </properties>
+    <dependencies>
+        <!-- Web MVC starter for building REST APIs -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <!-- JPA starter for PostgreSQL database connection -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <!-- PostgreSQL database driver -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.postgresql</groupId>
+            <artifactId>postgresql</artifactId>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <!-- Project Lombok to avoid boilerplate code (Getters, Setters) -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
+            <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
+            <optional>true</optional>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <!-- Validation starter for DTO validators -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-validation</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <!-- Spring Boot Starter Test -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
+
+    <build>
+        <plugins>
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+                <configuration>
+                    <excludes>
+                        <exclude>
+                            <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
+                            <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
+                        </exclude>
+                    </excludes>
+                </configuration>
+            </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+    </build>
+
+</project>
diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/com/rit/portal/PortalApplication.java b/backend/src/main/java/com/rit/portal/PortalApplication.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30b334c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/com/rit/portal/PortalApplication.java
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package com.rit.portal;
+
+import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
+
+@SpringBootApplication
+public class PortalApplication {
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) {
+        SpringApplication.run(PortalApplication.class, args);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/com/rit/portal/config/WebConfig.java b/backend/src/main/java/com/rit/portal/config/WebConfig.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..680bdc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/com/rit/portal/config/WebConfig.java
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package com.rit.portal.config;
+
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.CorsRegistry;
+import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.WebMvcConfigurer;
+
+@Configuration
+public class WebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {
+
+    @Override
+    public void addCorsMappings(CorsRegistry registry) {
+        registry.addMapping("/api/**")
+                .allowedOrigins("http://localhost:5173", "http://localhost:3000")
+                .allowedMethods("GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE", "OPTIONS")
+                .allowedHeaders("*")
+                .allowCredentials(true);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties b/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2599148
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# ─── DATABASE CONNECTION CONFIGURATION ───
+spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/rit_freshers_hub?sslmode=disable
+spring.datasource.username=postgres
+spring.datasource.password=your_local_postgres_password_here
+
+# ─── JPA / HIBERNATE SETTINGS ───
+spring.jpa.database-platform=org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect
+spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=validate
+spring.jpa.show-sql=true
+spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.format_sql=true
+
+# ─── SERVER PORT ───
+server.port=8080