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Orientation: camp makes way for festival

17 Oct 2017

Radboud University is overhauling its orientation week by trading in the weekend camps for a festival for all participants. The festival will adopt several programme components, such as the cantus.

It’s become somewhat of a tradition: a week of partying, making friends, and getting to know the university is followed by a weekend camp for all participants. That tradition, however, is no more. The camps are making way for a big festival, where first-year students and mentors can celebrate the end of a fun week.

This plan was recently confirmed by Rob Vaessen, manager of the department of Student Life, and approved by the Executive Board. According to Vaessen, there are several reasons for this change, the most important being that the orientation should be fun for everyone. ‘A festival makes it easier to cater to the needs of an increasingly diverse group of students’, says Vaessen.

Internationalisation
Vaessen is referring to the internationalisation of the university and the importance of non-Dutch students feeling comfortable during the predominantly Dutch-language orientation. Another group that may feel left out at the moment is seventeen-year-olds. As they’re not yet allowed to drink, a singalong like the Campus Cantus might not appeal to them.

The university therefore decided to move the cantus from the campus to the festival. Vaessen envisions a festival with a programme of simultaneous activities. ‘If students want to play a game of chess or watch a theatre show, they can.’ According to Vaessen, moving the cantus has nothing to do with criticism about drinking during the event.

Both the culture-themed and final party will also become part of the festival. The umbrella student organisations BOS, CHECK and ISON tasked with planning these three events will therefore work closely with the festival organisers. Vaessen hopes there will be room for more organisations under this set-up. ‘Organisations like the Muslim association and the LGBT+ youth organisation Dito, for example.’

More manageable
The festival should accommodate four to five thousand students, which is a huge logistical task. Nevertheless, a festival is much easier to manage than weekend camps, which were spread out over 22 different locations last year. ‘We can now have trained first aid professionals, for example.’

The location is not yet known, but it won’t be more than a 45-minute drive. ‘We don’t want the festival to be on the other side of country’, says Vaessen. ‘That’s not very eco-friendly. At the same time, we don’t want it too close to Nijmegen, because then people will just hop on their bikes and sleep at home.’

In other words, it has to be a real festival. The only difference between this festival and Lowlands or Pinkpop: students won’t have to bring their own tents. The university will provide them.

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