The Class of 2010 is here! Orientation 2006, scheduled for Aug. 24-30, will allow freshmen to meet the faculty, staff members and current students who will help shape their WUSTL experience. This year’s orientation theme, “WU’s Top 10,” encourages students to consider the possibilities that lie ahead as members of the University’s Class of 2010.
The highlight again this year will be the Freshman Reading Program. Started in 2003, the program gives freshmen the opportunity to engage in a lively discussion with a faculty member about a book of common reading assigned to them over the summer.
This year’s book, One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All, was written by WUSTL’s Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare in the School of Social Work. Students will talk about the book during program discussions from 7-8:30 p.m. Aug. 28 in the South 40.
Orientation officially kicked off Aug. 24 with residence hall floor meetings, followed by the 7:30 p.m. Convocation — Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton’s welcoming address to new students and their parents in the Athletic Complex. A celebration in Brookings Quadrangle was scheduled to conclude the day’s events.
An array of placement exams and departmental open houses are scheduled for today. These give students an opportunity to meet with faculty and staff representatives to learn more about the curriculum. Various financial aid meetings and campus ministry dinners also will take place today. The closing event is the Club 40 Dance at 10 p.m. in the South 40 Clock Tower Plaza.
Aug. 26 will feature meetings with deans and residential college receptions. Highlighting the day will be “Choices 101 — An Introduction to the First-Year Experience,” a series of thought-provoking and entertaining skits presented by upperclassmen at 8 p.m. in Edison Theatre. A discussion will follow.
At 8 p.m., students also can attend “The Date,” an interactive theatrical presentation in Graham Chapel that examines the issues of sexual assault and alcohol on college campuses. After the performance, students will break into discussion groups by floors. (“Choices 101” and “The Date” will be repeated Aug. 27.)
Aug. 27 consists of a full schedule of adviser meetings for all incoming students.
Aug. 28 features academic advising and more campus orientation sessions. “Freshmen Foundations,” which will run from 1-2 p.m. and again on Aug. 29 at the same time, will take place in the Arts & Sciences Laboratory Science Building, Room 300.
“Foundations” will provide an opportunity for students to gain an insider’s view of how to succeed in the classroom, while at the same time creating a healthy balance outside the classroom. One of the University’s faculty members, Richard Smith, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Anthropology and the Ralph E. Morrow Distinguished University Professor, will share his advice.
The Aug. 29 schedule includes more academic advising and deans’ meetings, as well as the “Foundations” program. An outdoor movie will be shown at the South 40 Swamp from 9-11:30 p.m.
Residence floor meetings will be held Aug. 30.
Also scheduled are a variety of events designed especially for international, commuter and transfer students, as well as parents.
For more information and a full orientation schedule, call 935-5040 or go online to orientation.wustl.edu.