INCOMING THOMASIANS are set to kick off their first ever academic year with a festival-themed ROARientation on Thursday, Aug. 6, the director of the event said.
“As a festival, it’s supposed to be high energy, good music, just basically make the freshmen feel that they are building a community once they enter the university,” Gessi Krishnan, director of this year’s university-wide orientation and business manager of the Tiger Media Network, told The Flame.
Krishnan said the University’s plan for this year’s ROARientation would not differ from the previous onboarding activities to preserve the annual festivities’ presentation of “Thomasian pride,” which has been associated with pep rallies and other performances.
She said the event would not feature performers outside the campus, such as external bands, to maximize “homegrown talents.”
“For ROARientation, we are going to showcase Thomasian talents like Thomasian talent guilds, Coro Tomasino, Salinggawi, different troupes [and] UST Prime,” Krishnan said.
The ROARientation is divided into two batches to accommodate all students. The morning batch will run from 7:30 to 11:30 am, while the afternoon batch will be held from 12:30 to 3:30 pm.
According to Krishnan, contingency plans are in place for unpredictable weather to ensure students’ safety during the event.
Other onboarding activities include the Thomasian Welcome Walk on the same day as the ROARientation; the UST Cloud Campus and Library orientation on July 31; the freshmen virtual ROARientation on Aug. 4; the Mass of the Holy Spirit and inaugural lecture on Aug. 5; and the onboarding fair on Aug. 6.
Classes will officially begin on Aug. 7, while the Faculty of Arts and Letters will start on Aug. 10. F
