Durham College spirit sprang to life at this year’s Orientation Week with thousands of students showing up to the annual event. Students all over campus could be seen clad in the latest I heart DC swag and paraphernalia, part of a college-wide campaign that launched earlier this year.

The week kicked off with a DC Crew Orientation breakfast to help gear up the student volunteer team and assign roles and responsibilities for the week. “This year’s DC Crew learned a great deal about problem-solving, teamwork and communications. They needed to be adaptable to quick changes and concessions and they really chipped in wherever possible,” said Tara Blackburn, director of Student Life, about her outstanding group of volunteers.

Part of the college’s extensive leadership program, volunteers are invited to participate in DC Crew based on their academic achievements. These young ambassadors partake in an extensive series of training through the winter and spring seasons to prepare them for Orientation Week and their ongoing roles within the college throughout the academic year.  “They find it very rewarding to see how their actions directly impact the overall success of each event,” said Blackburn.

Orientation Week events included the annual campus extravaganza, pep rally, movie-on-the-lawn, off-campus social and, perhaps the week’s most anticipated event, the third annual Campus Cup, which saw the Durham Lords take on the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks in an exciting soccer game. With a record-breaking audience of 700 fans, the Lords emerged victorious for the third year running in a 1-0 win, sending UOIT president Dr. Tim McTiernan back to campus donning a Lords jersey.

Check out live footage of orientation week at www.durhamcollege.ca/orientation.