The kickoff to the first year experience and Union College journey was one to remember for the Class of 2027. On September 3, all 560 first-year students and their families gathered in the stands of Frank Bailey Field. To start orientation, President David Harris addressed the first-years and their families.
Students looked forward to starting their college experience in a positive way, and the Union orientation team helped make that possible. Orientation began with goodbyes—a bittersweet moment for families. Director of the First-Year Experience Aileen Schatz believes that everyone has a different reaction to the start of their college careers. “Some students are ready to send their parents home and get ready for their college careers and others need a little more time,” Schatz said.
Once families departed, students were divided into 36 groups. These groups were designed for students to meet other students, and form friendships. Nick Komisky of Monkton ‘27, MD had thought that orientation was a positive experience because he formed bonds with his classmates. “The small groups make it easy to meet people,” Komisky said. “Everyone is trying to make friends, and the icebreakers and small amounts of free time help form friendships.”
Before dinner commenced on library plaza, students learned which Minerva house they would belong to. Students were overwhelmingly excited to learn about their Minerva house, and have another opportunity to create additional friendships.
The first night ended with a class wide picture in the Nott Memorial and the “West Beach Welcome” event. Both of these were unity events for the new Garnet Chargers. The second day had a variety of events including important information sessions and the annual MinervOlympics. Prior to the MinervOlympics, various information sessions included information about academics, bystander intervention, the Wicker Wellness Center, campus safety, inclusion and sustainability. Many students said they were bored during the information sessions, but realize that it is an important part of educating everyone to make this a safe and welcoming campus community.
The excitement continued Monday afternoon with MinervOlympics! The annual event included: musical chairs, minute to win it, soccer, pasta tower building, relay races and more. In the end, the Breazzano House emerged victorious—winning a trophy that is displayed in their common room. To conclude the exciting second day of orientation, students packed into College Park Hall for exciting games of bingo with valuable prizes.
The final day of orientation focused on academic resources at Union. This was an exciting time for most students, as they were getting to meet their academic advisors to discuss their fall term schedules, and look into classes for future terms. After meeting with their advisors, students reconvened with their orientation groups to attend information sessions about library resources, student success, and the career center. Orientation concluded with a series of campus-wide events starting with convocation. First-year students proceeded into Memorial Chapel with their Minerva before hearing welcome speeches from various faculty, and seeing the presentation of awards to distinguished members of the campus community in the past year.
I personally think orientation has downsides. For example, the information sessions felt long. However, this experience helps to create friendships. My personal experience was a success, and it seemed like a majority of the class of 2027 would say the same. In my opinion, it is clear that the orientation team definitely made it a great experience, and the class of ‘27 looked forward to strengthening their friendships with all their new friends. “I think the sunshine and excitement was great for this experience,” Schatz said. “I know orientation is a lot of information, but I hope students took away key resources and people to know so if they have questions during their first year or beyond, they know where to go.”