Students’ Union making waves at Welcome Week
author: taylor balfour | news writer
tubular, dude! credit jaecy bells
Despite the drought, URSU is partying it out.
Every year, The University of Regina Students’ Union [URSU] organizes a back to school Welcome Week to kick off the new school year and it’s marketed as “the biggest party of the school year.”
This year the Students’ Union is taking a spin on their always popular kick off week with a “Make Some Waves” theme. The Carillon was able to interview the VP of External Affairs for URSU, Haris Khan about the event.
Despite the drought, URSU is determined to have a good time and make a splash into the 2017-18 school year.
Following orientation day, this year taking place on Tuesday, Sept. 5, URSU kicks off the first week of school with a themed, five-day-long party.
“This year our team decided to go with [a] theme related to [the] ocean. Just to make it more fun and attractive. Make some waves,” said Khan.
“Every year, the University of Regina Students’ Union welcomes hundreds of new and returning faces to our campus with Welcome Week, the biggest party of the school year,” the URSU website claims, followed by their list of events.
“Top it off with the hype of our annual concert, WelcomeFest, and relieve that back-to-school stress in a heartbeat,”
WelcomeFest in particular was something that Khan stressed that students focus on.
“We have a great lineup for [WelcomeFest]. Our team did an excellent job. It will be our biggest event during the Welcome Week.”.
Despite classes starting on Sept. 6, URSU has events lined up starting on the very first day of the month, entitled their “Welcome Weekend.” Starting on Sept. 1, these days are filled with campus tours, breakfasts, movie nights and, of course, a Saskatchewan Roughriders Labour Day Classic viewing party.
The weekend, packed to the brim with events, also held coffee and craft nights, parties, and gaming nights and video game tournaments, all to get the most out the last weekend of summer.
The real party begins on Sept. 6 with classes going back into full swing. On Wednesday, there were club fairs, smudging, a cultural showcase, and sports in the courts, ending with trivia night, karaoke, and an after party, all for 19+ students.
On Thursday, keeping up with their making waves theme, is URSU’s always popular outdoor movie night, with the feature film being Moana.
“Admission to the movie is free and free popcorn will be supplied by the Alumni Engagement Office,” URSU’s Facebook post details.
“But the event is BYOB (Bring Your Own Blanket).”
URSU decided to take an interesting step with Welcome Week that differs from previous years. Khan notes that the Students Union decided to look at more dry options for students.
“We had feedback that in the past, the majority of the events were focused around drinking. This year, on our team, we made sure that we have a good balance of events. In this way we are making sure that all students are welcomed at the events during the Welcome Week 2017”
On Friday, opposed to sports in the courts, the events are flipped to beer on the courts as a way to end the first week back into routine. The night ends with Welcome Fest, the party of the year, the Night Owl 5k, a marathon that is starting and ending at the university, and the after party.
These three events are all for 19+, and will be taking place on the Dr. Lloyd Barber Academic Green and The Owl, respectively.
The entire detailed schedule for the full week of events is listed on URSU’s Facebook page.
“It’s important to know when and where your classes are,” they say, “but here’s the schedule we know you really want to remember!”
Checking out their Welcome Week Facebook page also allows students to see which classmates are attending which events, and what is yet to come.
