New Blue Devils Enjoy a Week of Experiential Orientation

The week is a chance to bond with others and learn more about the surrounding communities

A group of people dancing on top of a mountain
Project Earth celebrates atop Occoneechee Mountain in Hillsborough.

First, there was Move-In Day. Then came Experiential Orientation for the nearly 1,800 new Blue Devils who make up the Class of 2030.

Experiential Orientation is a weeklong immersion, which this year officially ended Friday, Aug. 21, that allows new-to-Duke students to dive into projects designed to build community and foster a sense of belonging around a shared interest.

Each student is placed into one of 22 themed projects, serving as a foundation for the week. Projects are led by two student project directors and supported by upperclass orientation leaders and staff from across the university. Student leaders play a central role in shaping each project, curating thematic activities that aim to spur engagement, collaboration and new friendships.

Activities range from hiking to baking to exploring the brain. Oh, and dancing on top of a mountain. Here are some scenes from last week’s projects.

Project Herd takes a tour through the Duke Lemur Center, with a black and white ruffed lemur looking on.
Project Discover participants perform songs they created about failure before a panel discussion on the topic. The panel featured Duke and local leaders, including Mayor Leonardo Williams, right.
People painting a bridge
Students involved in Passport to Duke and Durham paint the East Campus bridge alongside orientation leaders and resident assistants.
People making pizza
Making pizza is on the menu for Project Global students and orientation leaders, at Cugino Forno in Durham.
People working outside at a farm
Project Farm to Table students pick – and toss – veggies at Duke Campus Farm.
People in a lab working on a brain
Junior Gage Gruett, left, and sophomore Hannah Park, Project Seed
orientation leaders, work with human brain specimens
during a visit to the Neuroscience Teaching Lab.
People building at a construction site
Project Habitat first years, from left, Ivy Greer Dyer, Caroline VanHoy, and
Florencio Muñoz Legarre help build a house in Weavers Grove, a community in Chapel Hill, led by Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.
A game of inner tube water polo in Brodie Aquatics Center, for participants in Project Play