Students participate in annual first-year orientation

Several students anonymously express concern with the ideals conveyed

By Roger Hart, ‘26

As part of their orientation, W&L first-years participated in a homeroom discussion on diversity, equity, and inclusion and later watched the “Voices of W&L” skit series, which serves as a launching point to discuss various aspects of student life. Both sessions, held on Sunday, September 4th, were some of the first community activities attended by new students.

The events were organized under the umbrella of First Year Experience (FYE), the name encapsulating the variety of activities and sessions freshmen attend during their first week and throughout their first term at W&L. FYE is managed by Jason Rodocker, Associate Dean of Students and Dean for First-Year Experience.

Held amongst hallmates, the DEI meetings were titled “Diversity, Inclusion, and Community” and featured conversations on identity and personal experiences.

When asked about the DEI session, Chris Simon, ‘26 from Wilmington, Delaware said, “I wouldn’t say that anything was useless, but there was a lot of stuff that was boring to sit through, just because it seemed obvious. However, I do understand why we sat through the things we had to sit through.”

Julian Defour, ‘26 commented that the session was “nice to learn about for the people that need those resources, and it was interesting just to know what they are because I probably wouldn’t have known about a lot of them if it hadn't been for that session.”

The resources Defour alluded to include the Angel Fund, which offers financial assistance to students who lose parental support, and the LGTBQ Resource Center, among others.

Of the upper-classmen running the session, Defour said, “All of the facilitators were super nice, but felt rushed with the amount of groups going around campus that day.” 

However, one student — who chose to remain anonymous — felt the university might have overdone things. “There was a point where they were forcing different viewpoints on us not because they believed in them but because they wanted to force certain ideals onto our class,” the student said.

After dinner, first-years reconvened in Keller Theater to watch the “Voices of W&L” performance.

Written and performed by upper-class students, “Voices” examines high-risk behaviors, sexual assualt, and DEI issues. Afterwards, students spent an hour discussing the performance and how to ensure a safe university.

In previous years, “Voices of W&L” featured a skit about a dangerously drunk student. His friends and onlookers debate what course of action to take, and the skit ends several ways to demonstrate the consequences of the choices made.

That skit was omitted from this year’s performance.

Past performances, just as this year, took on classism by depicting a student from a low socio-economic background feeling excluded by the dress, manners, and activities of wealthy peers.

One first-year felt the session helped her hall bond. “I really like spending time with people in my hall and having discussions with them and my RA after certain events like the “Voices of W&L” performance because I feel like my group is a lot closer,” said Amelia Macholz of Richmond, Virginia.

“I thought that the discussion after the performance was a good way of everyone voicing their opinion on the topics, especially considering how diverse of a group we are,” she explained.

Another student — who chose to remain anonymous — questioned the value of subjecting first-years to tacky, stereotypical skits. 

“My hall enjoyed the performances but didn’t take the topics seriously and were making jokes about it, which offended some of my hallmates. So for the future I would say to make the skits less cheesy and just know that you can’t force someone to accept someone else or their values.”