MICHAEL CAPITANO
<Staff Writer>
“We like ‘em young. Y is for your sister; O is for oh so tight; U is for underage; N is for no consent; G is for grab that ass.”
I could end my article here and let the students of St. Mary’s do the talking for me. But where’s the fun in that?
The now infamous chant has led to flurries of commentaries, calls for discipline and the like. There hasn’t been one frank discussion about why we even bother at all with the tradition of Frosh Week. It’s wrought with stereotypes, much of it is forgettable and it forces students to engage in hollow revelry.
That’s not to say orientation isn’t important. Your new school should feel like a place where you belong. It’s just that mindless chanting doesn’t foster school spirit (just sore throats and fleeting feelings of camaraderie). I’m sure being inculcated with a culture of rape doesn’t make girls feel at home.
For me, the most memorable moments of orientation were not getting drunk or trying to spout off verses louder than the rival group beside mine or listening to speakers drone on about what great experiences await. They were found in the lulls: on the bus ride to pub-crawl, in between throws at a bowling alley, getting lost on campus with a new acquaintance. Organic moments. Not socially constructed, overly planned adventures.
Hookup culture doesn’t exist. Only half of the population are extroverts. Being herded like sheep from one event to the next degrades individuality. So why is frosh week tailored to be a giant party, replete with alcohol, booming music and awkward conversations?
I’m not saying Osgoode does it wrong. Law students are more mature than our fresh out of high school brethren and our student leaders are smart enough to find the right balance. I had a great time during Osgoode’s orientation week last year. I’m more concerned about those new to the university experience.
Looking at our culture as a whole, shouldn’t orientation be designed to generate genuine social interactions and give exposure to opportunities your school has to offer? Many of the socially-conscientious events often get overshadowed by the high-intensity romps students are expected to attend. Shouldn’t coffee houses be just as cool as live concerts? Board game nights preferred over pool halls or clubbing?
Maybe I’m just being cynical. Or the introvert in me is tired of having to talk to so many people during the first week of school. But maybe, just maybe, it is time to rethink an institution that has been around since any of us can remember.
It’s shocking to me that the St. Mary’s chant lasted as long as it did. It’s even more shocking that no one realized how despicable it was until it was pointed out to them. Well, I’m calling the entire thing out. No one should be raped or killed because partying gets out of hand. No one should have to feel left out or discriminated against because of the type of events offered. It’s because we allow this culture to continue that bad things happen when we’re just trying to have a little fun before the real work starts.
Like it or not, the biggest thing that shapes our behaviour is the environment we’re thrown into and rules that frame it. We all know that new experiences tend to feel like magic. Coming back to school for the second year and on is just business as usual. There’s no grand celebration or welcoming party. We have the power to shape perceptions. It’s our responsibility to put together something great before that magic is lost and the first years start finding things to complain about just like the rest of us. It should be something that leaves a lasting impression, instead of echoes of fading spirit resounding through the halls.
Let’s do a Cartesian thought experiment. We’ll cast the entire frosh system into doubt and build orientation up from its foundation. Opening ceremonies seem necessary. So do the welcomes of upper years. Silly icebreakers too. Throw in a concert to generate some buzz. Maybe a pub night and a semi-formal. A guest speaker here and there. Ah, that didn’t really get us anywhere.
What if schools did nothing? What if the underage teenagers with their first tastes of freedom weren’t received, but were simply expected to unpack their things and go to class. That nothing had been organized by their residence community or faculty community or university as a whole. Would it be alienating? Or does it just push back the feelings of homesickness an extra week? Frosh week or not, students who like to party will end up partying; students who prefer low-key events will enjoy quiet nights alone or with a few friends.
Frosh is fun, but often overwhelming and tiresome. Before my first year of university began, I was determined to step out of my shell and put in as much of me as I could. I embarrassed myself singing karaoke, participated in a ball hockey tournament, went to dinners with new classmates. I ended up winning the spirit award for my floor. A month later, someone wrote on the whiteboard attached to my dorm room door: Stop playing music. You fucking suck. By November, I was homesick beyond belief and didn’t really feel like my campus was my home. I know it’s partly because of my personality. But returning the next year, it was no longer a scary place. The time spent learning and bonding with my school over the course of eight months did the trick. Not a week packed full of activities and random people.
The goal of orientation should be to take the magic of new experience and try to string it out for as long as we can. Not reinforce stereotypes and offensive behaviour for the sake of tradition. No one likes missing out on frosh events. We need to remember that we’re in control of what we link that feeling to.
We know what kind of culture we would like our universities to be. It’s high time we re-evaluate how to make that play out on the ground to stomp out despicable behaviour before it’s allowed to fester.