Every year, universities all over the country plan jam-packed days full of uncomfortable get-to-know-you activities and awkward icebreakers for their incoming freshman. Two days of this alone is enough to drive most people crazy, but can you imagine having to do it twice? Well, for learning community students here at Bloomsburg, this nightmare became a reality this past orientation with both LC Days AND Husky Days.

LC Days

Now if you were fortunate enough not to have to participate in the 2024 freshman orientation, you may be wondering what are LC days? Well, as you may guess from the name, LC days are a two-day long orientation meant for first-year students at the university who are enrolled in a learning community. Some of the learning communities that are offered at BU are the honors college, health and medical sciences, and American Sign Language. During this two-day-long event, students are assigned to groups with people in their LC to do a number of activities. These activities include games on the quad hosted by QUEST, a tour of the campus, talks from Professional U, a tour of downtown, and so much more. Besides all of the cheesy icebreaker activities and forced socialization, LC Days themselves seemed to be a success. Many LC students left the experience feeling more comfortable with their surroundings, informed, and ready to take on classes and college life. The problem? There were still two more days of orientation to come.

Husky Days

Now you might be wondering, what exactly are Husky Days? Look no further than the description of LC Days above and simply remove the LC from the equation. Husky Days are a two-day orientation event for all incoming freshmen at Bloomsburg. Some of the activities that took place during Husky Days include games on the quad hosted by QUEST, a tour of the campus (disguised in the form of a scavenger hunt), a talk from Professional U, a talk about Title IV, and very little else. If some of this sounds familiar, see LC Days above. 

For freshmen not enrolled in an LC, Husky Days are a much-needed stepping stone to beginning college life. For freshmen who are enrolled in an LC, Husky Days were a dreaded nuisance. While there was some difference between the two orientations, such as the Title IV talk during Husky Days, these small differences were not enough to keep LC students engaged (especially considering all freshmen were required to do online training on Title IV before orientation).

Final Recommendation

Since orientation is such a vital step to the introduction of college life, it is not recommended that Husky Days be done away with altogether. Instead, it is recommended that going forward, Husky Days be made optional for LC students. This way, if students feel that they need a longer introduction to college life or simply just want to meet more people, that option is open to them. Continuing the current policy of “mandatory attendance” with no actual repercussions will just continue to frustrate LC students as well as staff.