The Orientation Issue

Volume 10 Issue 2, September 2010

It was bound to happen eventually. It has been six years since Blueprint presented an issue on the theme of “School”, the first issue that was to be focused entirely on issues at and affecting Wilfrid Laurier University. Though Blueprint has remained a campus-focused publication by the very nature of its existence, it has not again addressed the academy head-on until this issue.

It seems natural – and entirely overdue – for Blueprint to have an issue focused entirely on Orientation Week and the events that surround it. As Laurier welcomes you into its arms by way of grown people in face paint and colour-coordinated costumes, it is my hope that the articles found in this issue can shed light on alternative views of culture, activities and life at our school.

As token as it may be for me to spout anti-Orientation Week vitriol and mock those who love the event for what it is, I genuinely have no desire to. I participated in and enjoyed the events of my O-Week, and though they had little effect on the person and student I identify as today, I generally remember the week fondly. However, as an event that so strongly and uncompromisingly presents a certain interpretation of what university life should be and how culture on this campus should function, I don’t believe that O-Week is an unfair target for criticism.

Regardless, Orientation Week is your last shot to enjoy life before the spiral of undergrad begins. Whether you participate in spirit games with your colour team, go to conversation cafes or discussion groups, or spend the entire five days in a drunken haze, enjoy it.

- Morgan Alan, Editor-in-Chief