To better prepare the 1,700 new students for life at SLU, the Office of Student Life has planned a weekend jampacked with fun activities.

“These events help to socially acclimate freshmen to the campus,” said David Clark, assistant director of Student Life.

Students were greeted yesterday with renovated residence halls, 100 orange-shirted movers and activities galore.

Welcome Week kicked off yesterday at 7 p.m. in Robert R. Hermann Stadium.

Oriflamme, a group of more than 100 upperclassmen, donned orange shirts to help freshmen move into dorms Thursday morning and afternoon.

By nighttime, the Oriflamme members performed skits and met with new students at the stadium.

“It’s a great introduction to the University,” Clark said. “And a chance to meet new people.”

This morning, the festivities continue with a convocation mass for new students and their parents at 9:30 a.m. The mass will be led by University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J.

“It’s an opportunity for students to hear and be welcomed to campus from the University president,” Clark continued.

From 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. today, the new-student picnic takes place in the Boland Plaza. At 5:30, the outside pools by Simon Recreation Center host jazz and hors d’oeuvres for parents and administrators.

Tonight hosts “one of the greatest SLU traditions,” according to Clark. The Welcome Back Square dance takes place at 8 p.m. on the roof of the SLU parking garage, at Olive and Compton Boulevards.

The 25th annual square dance will draw more than 1,000 students to make new friends and square dance the night away.

“It’s neat because all 1,000 students will come into contact with almost everyone else there,” Clark said.

From 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., new students can enjoy time in their respective Oriflamme groups.

A Welcome Mass takes place at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday in the St. Francis Xavier College Church.

Saturday evening begins with a picnic on the grass field just east of Grand Boulevard and south of Lindell Boulevard across from St. Francis Xavier College Church. The ground will be clad in red-and-white picnic blankets for the event, which begins at 6 p.m.

Clark said, “The picnic introduces a lot of new students to upperclassmen.”

Right after the picnic, the Billiken soccer team takes on top-ranked University of Connecticut. All students, new and returning, are invited to cheer the Billikens on to victory.

The stand-up comedian David Cross will begin at 9 p.m. in the Saint Louis Room of the Busch Memorial Center, followed by “Rock the Plaza” in Koenig Plaza from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. At the same time, “Midnight Madness” will have the Simon Recreation Center unusually full for a Saturday night.

The Welcome Week’s activities will begin to wind down on Sunday with more picnics.

The first one begins at 2 p.m. outside the Simon Recreation Center, 3639 Laclede Avenue, next to Griesedieck Hall. SLU’s department of Campus Ministry sponsors it.

The second picnic gets under way at 2:30 p.m. in the University quad, right in front of Griesedieck Hall and Pius Memorial Library. The picnic is sponsored by the Black Student Alliance.

The activities end Sunday night after 10 p.m. mass, in College Church. An ice cream social, sponsored by Campus Ministry, will take place in Firstar Plaza.

Whatever activities students choose to attend, they’re guaranteed a good time by members of the Office of Student Life.

All nine residence halls have received some renovation as part of Project SLU2000, a five-year, $100 million initiative to improve academics, housing and information systems begun in 1999.

Residence-hall improvements include cosmetic upgrades, such as new window treatments, light fixtures, carpeting, paint and new ceilings.

What some students call the best addition is air conditioning, which was added to Marguerite Hall and the Griesedieck complex.

For more information on any Welcome Week activities, stop by the Office of Student Life, Room 300 of the Busch Memorial Center.