Following Washington and Lee University’s pre-orientation program, Leading Edge, first-year students engaged in a series of activities over orientation week from Aug. 30 through Sept. 4.
The First-Year Orientation Committee (FYOC) organized the events to further connect Class of 2028 with their peers and the university community. First-year students had to attend certain events on their schedules listed with a checkmark, which united the entire class. But the voluntary events had low attendance and little participation.
In 2023, the Leading Edge became mandatory and free for all first-year students. Prior to that, many students opted out of participation and missed out on bonding experience with their fellow classmates.
Now that Leading Edge is required, more first-year students connect with one another, enhancing the quality of the pre-orientation experience. Students can choose from a variety of trips such as “Making Meaning,” “Appalachian Adventure” and “Volunteer Venture” – just to name a few. Making the trips mandatory allowed students to make more friendships and experience an area of study or topic that they may have never been exposed to before.
FYOC devotes hours to preparing events for the first-years, including the optional activities. The mandatory events such as the campus tour, cookouts, the first-year olympics, Voices of W&L, and the academic and activities fairs introduced first-year students to the myriad number of resources and opportunities that Washington and Lee has to offer. But students also had time to have fun and enjoy themselves.
Following presentations on the resources of Washington and Lee, first-years attended a cookout. First-years ate delicious foods such as pulled-pork barbecue, coleslaw and rich chocolatey brownies. In the First-Year Olympics, students bonded with their assigned halls in different team competitions. Requiring social events such as the cookout and the Olympics allowed first years to interact on a deeper level, creating meaningful relationships. Additionally, the academic fair and the activities fair allowed them to seek out opportunities and explore academic interests in different majors and areas of study.
Yet, other events like speed friending, ice cream socials, casino night and bonfires were all listed as optional. As a result, participation and the turnout for such events dwindled immensely even though they are equally important to cultivating campus culture and immersing students into the community.
As a first-year student, I watched the FYOC work tirelessly to make the orientation as exciting as possible. My heart hurt a little to watch the few first-year students show up to the various optional events. The low turnout also made building friendships feel much more difficult.
Not every first-year agrees with such an idea. Ayo Sheba, ’28, believes that more events should not be mandated. Yet, Sheba proposed the idea that every first-year should be required to go to an additional FYOC event to increase participation.
Trent Halterman, ’28, also agreed that more events should not be mandatory but argued that each first-year should get to pick FYOC activities based on their interests, which would build community amongst like-minded peers.
The number of orientation events needs to be reduced, but requiring participation for all orientation events, or most of them, would enhance the experience for all first years. The same effect of first-year students benefiting from required participation in Leading Edge would be reciprocated in mandating most orientation events.
Not only would requiring attendance enhance the quality of the orientation experience, but it would also promote safer behaviors during the week. At night, many students choose to attend parties, often engaging in reckless behavior. Uncontrolled alcohol consumption can have irreversible consequences, leading to visits at the health center, or the hospital. Going to mandatory events may inspire W&L students to make safer choices during the week. Having social interaction over conversation, rather than alcohol, will prevent the amount of potential harm that orientation week can cause.
Overall, requiring participation in more orientation events would enhance the building of a community that W&L takes pride in. Like the requirement for the Leading Edge program, mandatory participation in the orientation week events will lead to a stronger community and better connections between students. FYOC’s hard work will benefit the entire class, rather than a small number of students who choose to attend planned events. While requiring attendance may deter students from wanting to go, more would likely attend due to the honor system, or through the taking of attendance. Requiring attendance could also save a life, in preventing risky alcohol use.
