Right now, universities across the country are working to prepare workshops, events, and parties to welcome new students to school. Here’s some of the weirder, wilder, unique frosh events happening at other Canadian universities:
University of Toronto (U of T) – Colleges bed races
At the U of T, bed races are more popular than football games.
The frosh week tradition, which involves racing bed-like platforms on wheels, started as a competition between the school’s engineers and students at St. Michael’s College, one of U of T’s colleges. The rivalry continues to this day, but other colleges now participate.
“It’s usually on the last or second-last day of frosh, so a lot of hype and rivalry has been going around the entire week,” explained Clara Thaysen, a former frosh leader at the university. “It’s like U of T’s homecoming.”
Trent University – Colleges mud fight
First year students should prepare for a frosh week that’s going to get dirty—literally. The All-Colleges Mud Fight is a tradition at Trent. Students can purchase bandanas in their college colours and engage in an epic mud battle, with all proceeds going to charity.
Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) – self-portrait making
As a young institution, OCAD was determined to create its own orientation tradition that students could look forward to participating in each year, explained Brent James, campus life co-ordinator.
The Toronto university created the Face2Face Postcard Project. Before coming to campus, new students are encouraged to create a self-portrait postcard through any artistic medium and send it to the school.
These postcards will be displayed throughout orientation, the students’ first on-campus exhibition.
“We are welcoming our new students and introducing them to the community, and Face2Face is a way for them to use their unique skills and introduce themselves to us,” James said.
McGill University – “Rad” frosh
McGill students looking for an alternative to traditional frosh events may find a home in RadFrosh. The three-day alternative orientation was started in 1994 with the goal of exposing new McGill students to important social, environmental, and political issues.
Participation fluctuates between 150 and 250 students every year, making it a relatively intimate orientation, explained Jaime Maclean, a RadFrosh coordinator. “We want students to get to know each other, to get to know artists and activists in the community, and also get to know organizations and services that are on campus.”
This year, RadFrosh will host events and workshops about alternative sexual education, the Quebec student movement, social media and security culture, and Indigenous feminism.
Ryerson University – Guinness World Record breaking
Every year, students come together to try to break a Guinness World Record. Past records broken include the world’s largest dance class, the most people simultaneously playing paddle ball, and the largest cowbell ensemble.
The class of 2019 will be the ninth to participate in the yet-to-be-announced world record challenge at Ryerson.
Everywhere – Engineering traditions
When it comes to crazy frosh traditions and hype, engineering students across Canada are typically acknowledged as the wildest of all university faculties.
At Queen’s University, engineers compete to climb a greased pole. At many schools, including Carleton University, engineering students dye their skin and clothes purple during frosh week. Although the practice has declined in recent years, engineering departments used to sponsor a naked female to ride a horse across campus to celebrate Lady Godiva, an engineer mascot.q
