Name: Orientation
Previous/other names: Orientation Week, Frosh Week, Initiation, Welcome Week, O-Week.
Prominent date(s) of activity: [1928 or earlier] - current.
History: Orientation is an annual event, typically lasting a week, to help new students orient themselves to their new life at university. It is a fun-filled week of events, activities and informative sessions to help new students make friends, have fun, and learn about all the incredible things UNB has to offer. It is a chance to discover campus and settle in academically, socially and culturally. Events take place on both the Fredericton and Saint John campuses and welcome all new students including transfers from other universities, mature students, and students fresh out of high school.
Orientation is held during the days leading up to the start of classes and the first few days of classes during both the fall and winter semesters. Winter orientation began [around 2020].
Orientation has been organized by an Orientation Committee in the past, and is currently organized by the Student Union.
Many years had themes, such as Accept the Challenge (1983), Festival of Friendship (1987), Discover a New World (1992), and All Aboard (2022).
Orientation kits were provided to students beginning in 1962. They include a variety of useful items that reflect the community and needs of the time, including pamphlets on sexual health, using internet cafes, buying a cell phone, UNB Safe, and local events. Kits also include UNB memorabilia such as buttons, frisbees, toothbrushes, stickers, water bottles, t-shirts, and bandanas.
It is also the time for students to register and confirm their class schedule, pick up their student ID card, pay tuition, move into residence, and, modernly, install the UNB Safe app.
Activities: Orientation events in the past revolved around pageantry, formal teas, fancy dress parties, and dances. Clubs and societies often hosted dances, including the Sadie Hawkins Dance hosted by the Ladies Society, the Hunters' Hop hosted by the Rod and Gun Club, and the Veterans' Dance hosted by the Veteran's Club, which donated the money raised to New Brunswick regiments that were actively overseas. Dances are also often hosted by residences. The Frosh Queen was crowned throughout the 1960s.
More recently orientation and other events at UNB have evolved to accommodate diverse self-expression and inclusivity.
Information sessions describing useful things such as how to use the bus and campus and building tours help students orient themselves within both campus and the city at large.
Recurring events include barbeques, movie nights, games of all sorts (board, arcade, video, and lawn), sporting events, and karaoke.
Fundraising for Shinerama has been a part of Orientation since 1973. Shinerama is a shoe-shining fundraiser to encourage first-year students to meet new people and give back to their local community during orientation week. Shinerama is Canada’s largest post-secondary fundraiser in support of Cystic Fibrosis Canada.
Initiation rituals were a part of orientation week in the past.
Note(s): Beanies have a long history at UNB and university and college traditions worldwide. Incoming students at UNB have worn beanies from at least 1933. Yearbooks show them commonly throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. In 1969 they were no longer required but were used once or twice a decade until as recently as 2004.
Lord Beaverbrook gave his first address to the freshman class of 1955 in the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium. On 30 September 1955 the freshmen class made Beaverbrook an honourary freshmen during the Freshmen Banquet. As Susan Montague reports in A Pictorial History of the University of New Brunswick, "according to Barry Toole ('58), then president of the sophomore class, 'It was the first time something like that was ever done. He loved it.'"
Source(s):
- Montague, Susan. A Pictorial History of the University of New Brunswick. University of New Brunswick, 1992, p. 72; 75; 98-99; 207.
- The Brunswickan (UA RG 84), vol. 108, no. 1, 7 September 1973.
- The Brunswickan (UA RG 84), vol. 122, no. 1, 11 September 1987.
- The Brunswickan (UA RG 84), vol. 127, no. 1, 8 September 1992.
- UA RG 440, series 102, file 86, 87, 88.
- UNB Student Union