first year center

Virtual bingo and 1000-person group chats: How WU freshmen are finding creative ways to meet

In a time where we have all been asked to balance safety and socializing, perhaps no one has felt the strain of this task more than the University’s freshmen.

| Contributing Writer

First Year Center outlines plan for next year’s Bear Beginnings program

In collaboration with a number of other Washington University organizations, the First Year Center has used a feedback-driven approach to redesign the Bear Beginnings program for the 2020-2021 academic year.

| News Editor

Students reflect on 2019 Bear Beginnings

The class of 2023 had mixed reactions to the new nine-day Bear Beginnings orientation.

Kathleen White & Curran Neenan | News Editors

First Year Center utilizes new events app for Bear Beginnings

Washington University has created a new scheduling app, called “WashUEvents,” for this year’s Bear Beginnings, a program that introduces incoming freshmen to campus life, University expectations and some of their 1,878 new classmates.

Zachary Berman | Contributing Reporter

FYC app leads first year students and parents through orientation

In an attempt to modernize the orientation process and eliminate the need to distribute pamphlets, the First Year Center (FYC) introduced an app designed to help freshmen navigate through Bear Beginnings.

| Contributing Reporter

New residence hall to join Umrath, house First Year Center

On the site of the former Rubelmann Hall, a new building is being constructed—but it’s not a new Ruby. The building will be an extension of the already-standing Umrath House, and will share Umrath’s name. Administrators hope that connecting the buildings will help freshmen living in the Residential College interact more.

| Staff Reporter

Small Pre-O’s help with college adjustment, open doors for freshmen

Little did I know, when I chose to participate in the “World of Politics” Pre-Orientation program, how much that experience would improve my experience as a freshman. Unfortunately, due to the new 20-participant rule put in place by the First Year Center, future freshmen may not have the same opportunity as I did.

Scott Solomon | Class of 2019

Every student, same story: The demise of pre-orientation at the hands of the First Year Center

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: You can imagine my surprise when I heard that my Bear Beginnings, my foundation for a successful collegiate experience, is threatened by the First Year Center, which announced last week that any pre-orientation program with fewer than 20 students enrolled by June 15 would be cancelled.

| Class of 2014

FYC decision detrimental to freshman experience, breaks trust with student leaders

In an announcement to student pre-orientation leaders, the First Year Center made it known that for the upcoming year they plan to cut any pre-orientation program that does not have 20 students signed up by June 15, 2016. We at Student Life can’t help but wonder why the FYC is going to such great lengths to limit student experience, something that the center supposedly champions.

Note from the editor

In today’s news section, you will find a story entitled “FYC makes plan to cancel small pre-o programs.” It should be noted that Student Life has been running a small pre-orientation program known as Freshman Press for around 20 years, and therefore, there is not a single member of our editorial staff who does not feel strongly about the implications of the First Year Center’s decision.

| Editor-In-Chief

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