New students play Ships and Sailors at First-Year Follies on Aug. 18 in Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center. Photo: Elina Moon
Stars Week underwent a couple of changes after evaluations and feedback from students.
New Student Orientation leaders got new students moved in Aug. 14-16, with the help of members of Greek life. Greek life members didn’t help with check-in at the West Lawn Pavilion this year, but instead only helped carry students’ items into the dorms.
Another change was getting rid of Passport to the Stars, a campuswide scavenger hunt, and adding “The Clue to OCU.”
The event was added because NSO leaders got requests for a campus tour so new students could figure out campus and where their classes are, said Spencer Gauldoni, New Student Orientation Week chairman.
“We decided to do a big game of Clue around OCU so they can do different things on campus and figure where all the buildings are,” he said. “What we did was make up a little script where Starsky had been kidnapped and we were trying to figure out who kidnapped Starsky.”
All 53 NSO leaders participated in the event and broke up into separate groups. There also were actors dressed up as the characters from Clue who would give hints about where the groups needed to go next and who “snatched Starsky,” Gauldoni said.
The groups were told whoever was the most energetic would win free tickets to Hairspray. At the end, though, they were surprised when everyone received free tickets.
“It turned out to be an awesome event,” Gauldoni said.
The Play Fair was changed to “First-Year Follies.” The event includes ice-breaker games in Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center.
“We actually got on the assessments that people hated Playfair, so we were like ‘wow, okay, we need to make a change,” Gualdoni said.
Spencer Gualdoni, New Student Orientation Week chairman, recognizes NSO Coordinator Colbi Beam during Blue Out Blow Out Pep Rally on Aug. 19. Photo: Donovan Lawson
This year NSO Coordinator Colbi Beam and Levi Harrel, assistant director of student development, made their own Play Fair-type event under a different name, Gauldoni said.
“It turned out to be a huge success. We noticed it was truly the biggest group of freshmen we’ve ever had,” Gauldoni said. “I didn’t count, but I would think we had a good 200 to 220 people there.”
Stars Week activities began Aug. 17 with events such as Matriculation and Stars on Bricktown, in which some students got to see a movie and others went to Brickopolis, 101 S. Mickey Mantle Drive.
“It’s absolutely wonderful. It’s truly gone amazing,” Gualdoni said.
Stars Week is meant to help freshmen make friends and get acclimated to campus before school starts.
“It has been so fun,” said MaKenzi Fox, marketing freshman. “I have made so many friends that I already consider my best friends.”
Fox is a member of the pom squad, so she said Blue Out Blow Out Pep Rally on Friday was her favorite event because she got to perform and see the freshmen excited about OCU.
Although Blue Out Blow Out had less attendees this year, Gualdoni said he was happy with how it turned out. He also said he couldn’t have done this week without his team of NSO leaders.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better team,” Gualdoni said.
The New Student Orientation staff positions are always paid, but this is the first year they knew ahead of time that they would get paid. They will receive a $400 salary in September. Normallly, the salary is kept secret throughout the year since New Student Orientation leaders are volunteer positions.
Since Gualdoni is a senior, it was his last Stars Week.
“It’s so sad,” he said. “I actually joined my freshman year immediately after going through Stars Week. I was like ‘oh my gosh, this is something I have to do.'”
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