University of Virginia Library

Orientation Explains Rules, Traditions

Busy Program Readies Students
For Life In Academical Village

By Rick Pearson
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Photos by Richard Wright

A Sister And A Father Help Two First-Year Men Move In To The McCormick Road Dormitories

More Than 1200 First-Year Students Descended Upon The Grounds This Weekend For Orientation

For most first-year men, the
greater part of the formalities
of Orientation Week is over,
and first-year men feel fully
acclimated to the intricate
ways of the University. Soon,
however, they will discover
they have just begun to learn.

In the past four days since
his arrival Saturday at the University,
the first-year man has been
thrown quickly into the college
routine. There was the scramble for
his room key, the long trek with
luggage to his room, and the first
fearful glance at his roommate
There was the discovery that Echols
Scholars no longer live in Echols
House, but in Watson. And there
were the first dormitory and
Association meetings.

From this point, the days
became a stream of events. Parents
left in perhaps the most fateful
departure since kindergarten. Suddenly
the students were caught up
in the panic of scheduling and
advising. Interested first-year men
heard a talk about the lasting value
of ROTC, and everyone went to the
convocation at University Hall.

Official Functions

Today the fast pace will continue,
as the new students will be
subjected to a combination of
official functions and informal
meetings. In the morning is a
convocation on Customs and Traditions
at University Hall. In the
afternoon, President and Mrs.
Shannon will greet the first-year
undergraduates at a reception outside
his home at Carr's Hill. This
affair will be excellent opportunity
to meet personally the President
and other major University
officials. Refreshments will be
served, and in case of bad weather,
the reception will be held in the
Newcomb Hall Ballroom.

Final Registration

There will also be a meeting of
all foreign students at 5:30 in the
Graduate Lounge of Newcomb
Hall, and at 10 all counselors will
conduct corridor meetings.

Tomorrow all new, transfer, or
readmitted students will complete
their final registration. In their
preliminary registration on
Tuesday, these students received
special time cards for final registration.
Each student should report to
Memorial Gymnasium at the time
printed on his card. He will then be
sent into the gym for an allotted
time, during which he will arrange a
final schedule and sign his name to
various class lists.

For most undergraduates this
registration will take place in the
morning, while most new and
returning graduate students will
register in the afternoon. Medical
students will register today, however,
at 4 p.m.

Friday is the culmination of all
this activity, as classes begin.

At Activities Night, beginning
Friday at 8, entering students can
learn about the various activities
and organizations around the
Grounds. Representatives of each
group will be present at tables they
have set up to talk with interested
students.

A true picture of the University,
though, will only come when the
first-year man learns his way
around the Grounds.

Newcomb Hall

A major center of student
activity is Newcomb Hall, just
across McCormick Road from the
West Range. Newcomb Hall was
built during the 1950's despite
vociferous student opposition,
according to a member of the
faculty, which stemmed from fears
that a student center would be one
more step in the direction of the
University becoming a stereotyped
"state university."

Newcomb Hall is widely used
today, however. On the first floor
are vending machines, a TV room, a
grill, a bookstore supplied with
literature ranging from Black Power
to English 101, a post office, and a
ride board where students who
need rides or passengers to and
from points around the country can
advertise their case. The second
floor houses the Open Square and
Contract Cafeterias, a bank, and an
ever-changing art display.

Main Floor

Newcomb Hall's main floor is
the third floor, where the information
center is located. Here one can
also borrow records for use in the
Listening Rooms, watch a movie in
the Ballroom, or visit the offices of
one of several student groups.

The fourth floor is the headquarters
for Student Council, the
Honor Committee, the University
Union, and several administrative
offices. The Cavalier Daily puts out
its news in its fifth floor office,
next door to that of Corks and
Curls, the University yearbook.

If by any chance a student needs
to stray from Newcomb Hall,
chances are good that he's gone to |