Features

For many former Carleton students, the words “Panda game” would inspire excitement, but not for those who attended the school after the late 90s.

The annual panda football games between the Carleton Ravens and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees ended when after 53 years of competition, the Ravens football team officially hung up their gear in 1998 due to financial issues.

Graduating from high school, going to university, and moving away from home and into residence are all very exciting things.    

However, as many students are living on their own for the first time, the sense of freedom can sometimes be abused, said Richard Sabourin, a special constable with Carleton’s department of university safety.  

Sabourin said he’s no stranger to the kind of trouble first-year students can get into, having worked with campus safety for seven years.

“The best way to describe the feeling of putting on the costume is like the whole superhero persona. I take on a whole new identity.”

Merylee Sevilla is a Carleton student with a not-so-secret identity. She has been Carleton’s mascot, Rodney the Raven, for three years.

Sevilla doesn’t just see being Rodney the Raven as a fun alternative to her everyday self — she also sees it as a job.

This year’s frosh week at Carleton will host some of the classic favourites such as Ravenspalooza, canal games, beach day, and a slew of other activities.

The one big difference is this will be the   second year university administration has played an active role in the planning of the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) frosh week.

Carleton’s residences have morphed over the years to adapt to the times and cater to the ever-changing face of the university’s student population.