Student Organization Spotlight: First-Year Orientation Committee The First-Year Orientation Committee has been planning since last fall to offer programming to welcome the Class of 2028 to W&L’s campus later this month.

By Kelsey Goodwin
August 7, 2024

Research on peer-led first-year college orientation programs suggests that these initiatives have a significant and positive impact on the transition experiences of first-year students. Washington and Lee University’s First-Year Orientation Committee’s goal is even higher: to show first-year students the warm welcome that is the hallmark of W&L’s campus.

W&L’s First-Year Orientation Committee (FYOC) coordinates and facilitates first-year orientation programming in collaboration with Student Affairs’ First-Year Experience Team. The group is composed of two general co-chairs, eight committee co-chairs, numerous other leadership positions and over 100 general members. FYOC greets first-year students upon their arrival to campus, and many serve as leaders for Leading Edge experiences during the first week.

Associate Dean of Students and Dean of First-Year Experience Jason Rodocker, who advises the group, said that in addition to welcoming first-year students, FYOC provides leadership development opportunities with responsibility and mentorship. The co-chair model fosters continuity in a significant year-round effort.

FYOC general co-chair Ben Bankston ’25 said FYOC begins its next cycle of orientation planning almost immediately following the conclusion of orientation every year, beginning with hiring for roles on the group’s activities team, communications team, tour-based events team and general executive team. He said this year’s focus was ensuring incoming team leaders had well-defined roles and clear expectations.

“We wanted the interview process to give them the best picture possible of the role they will be taking on,” said Bankston, an economics major from Forest, Virginia.

Bankston works closely with co-chair Katalyn Denby ’26 to ensure the organization is structured to meet its goals. Denby planned events on the activities team last year and said this year’s schedule builds on creativity and feedback from the prior year’s team.

“Feedback from the team has informed new ideas and smoothed out the process for aspects of the schedule that remain the same from prior years, and it is definitely helpful in my position,” said Denby, an Earth and environmental geoscience major from Phoenix.

Hannah-Grace Kornberg ’27 serves as the sophomore chair of tour-based events during orientation, which include an event called Get Downtown, designed to introduce first-year students to downtown Lexington, and Perspectives, which introduces students to departments and locations on campus they will need to be familiar with as they navigate their first term. Kornberg said her experience with FYOC last year as a first-year student was overwhelmingly positive and inspired her to get involved this year.

“I appreciated how attentive all the orientation committee members were – it really made the experience great,” said Kornberg, a Spanish and business administration double major from Cohutta, Georgia. “They were willing to answer any questions I had, and everything seemed very organized. FYOC members, along with some of the other first-years I met during the process, were my first friends here, so I’m really excited to help build those connections from the start.”

The communications team creates content schedules for social media posts and begins brainstorming ideas for content early in the year, adapting to different platforms from year to year as social media trends evolve. Instagram, GroupMe and WhatsApp have proven popular with this year’s incoming class, and the team answers questions from incoming first-years before and during orientation on the various platforms it maintains.

The activities team creates a schedule of evening activities throughout the orientation week such as game nights or “speed friending” (think speed dating). This year, FYOC has partnered with the Outing Club to offer a night of programming in which first-year students can try out the indoor climbing wall or take a hike along back campus trails to the gazebo near the Outing Club barn that offers a beautiful sunset view.

“It’s really important to us to have events that will draw students with varying interests together,” Bankston said, “so that everyone feels welcome from the beginning and that we’re excited for them to be here.”

Activities team co-chair Yewon Shin ’25 said she was excited to take on a leadership role that could directly shape the first-year experience and that offered so much opportunity to acquire new leadership skills.

“I’ve grown a lot in my delegation skills, learned to be flexible and to think on my feet,” said Shin, a neuroscience major from Yorba Linda, California. “I also found ways to ensure that general members enjoy their time volunteering, which then makes the experience more fun and engaging for the first-year students.”

“We want to make sure new students know what resources we have on campus to help them succeed,” said Mary-Kate Murschell ’25, senior co-chair of the tour-based events team. Stops on the Perspectives tour include the Harte Center for Teaching and Learning, Campus Kitchen, Dining Services and the Student Health Center. FYOC also provides students with printed reference materials at the end of the tour and shares contact information with their groups so first-years can contact their tour guide afterward with any follow-up questions.

“It’s such a special time,” Murschell said of welcoming new students to campus. “Plus, as a senior, I’m a little sentimental about it – I know what they have to look forward to.”

Explore the Arrivals and Orientation section of the First-Year Experience website to learn more about the orientation schedule for the Class of 2028 and leadership positions in FYOC.