Isaac Leigh calls for a lecture-free Fresher’s Week

At the end of January, the president of Warwick Student Union Isaac Leigh will present a reform aiming to re-organise fresher’s week.

He intends to campaign for a first week of term without lectures and seminars, regardless of the course.

At the University of Warwick, international students taking part in the orientation week have the chance, before university starts, for a week completely free of obligations.

However, all other students arriving a week later have to deal with settling in to a new accommodation, making friends, going clubbing, visiting the campus or getting lost all while trying to make it to seminars and lectures.

Isaac Leigh uses two main arguments to defend his case. Firstly, he claims that the difference between orientation week and first week of university is unfair for the ones arriving later, and it may create a kind of ‘segregation’ between students.

On this matter, the solution is not simple. He argues that making orientation week compulsory is not the solution. It would make more sense to introduce a lecture and seminar-free fresher’s week in order for students to catch up.

Isaac also denounces the fact that students can be overwhelmed and need time to settle down. The first week of university, according to him, can offer a lot, and is ‘more a necessity than a luxury’.

Cooking classes, inter-hall competitions, meetings with tutors of the department, visits to Leamington or Coventry and information about opportunities such as years abroad can all take place during a fresher’s week.

When asked about this initiative and the fact that no petition was conducted, he claimed that almost everybody he has spoken to simply agrees that change needs to occur. ‘The University needs to listen to their students and take their feedback on board’, he stated.

In a survey conducted by the Boar on Facebook, only 6 students out of 53 said they would prefer having lectures in the first week.