Marquette Moment

Swing your Partner round

and round at orientation

It’s love at first do-si-do. OK, maybe not, but rumor has it that marriages have sprung out of the legendary square dance during student orientation week. “We always tell a joke that you never know, but you might meet your future spouse at the square dance,” says Dr. Mark McCarthy, assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of student development.

The matchmaking power of the dance isn’t the only thing that makes orientation special. For more than 50 years, the university has welcomed new students with a slew of memorable activities leading up to the start of school.

• New students and orientation • First Year Reading Program • Square Dancing in Wisconsin

This year, orientation included a block party, movies, tours, a service project and seminars ranging from “Studying for Success in College” to “You’re Not Alone: Being Non-Catholic at a Catholic University.” For “Marquette: On Stage,” students wrote and performed monologues about critical issues such as sexual assault, racism, homelessness and alcohol abuse. Freshmen also read a book before coming to campus — this year’s selection was Hunger by Lan Samantha Chang — and had the chance to meet and chat with the author.

“We also spend a lot of time helping students understand that Marquette is a special place, and what it means to be a member of this community,” says Duane Bruce, assistant dean for new student programs.

It’s not just for freshmen. Orientation served about 2,100 incoming students, 1,200 parents and 100 siblings. For years, Marquette has offered special programming for parents and siblings.

“We feel that orientation is something for the whole family,” McCarthy says. “For the little brothers and sisters — especially if it’s the first child going away to college — it helps them with the transition, too.”

The depth and breadth of Marquette’s orientation and its focus on mission are what really make it unique.

“Most students at the end of the orientation are at least aware of and can articulate the four principals of our mission statement, and I don’t know if every school can say that,” McCarthy says..