Laurentian University: Student life on campus

Unofficial school motto: ‘L Who? LU!’
Best place for a nap: The Brenda Wallace Reading Room, usually referred to as the Brenda Wallace Napping Room
Best cheap lunch: Pub Downunder
Best hangover breakfast: Eddie’s restaurant and sports bar
Favourite watering hole: Speakeasy
Perks of living in this town: Easy access to outdoor winter activities like snowshoeing, lake skating and ice fishing
Best place to study: Salute, with locations downtown and in the south end
Weirdest tradition: Rez Formal: a full-day party for students living in residence you have to experience to fully understand
Best campus event: Varsity basketball home opener
Best giveaway: The Students’ General Association’s 12 Days of Giveaways
Best live music venue: The Townehouse Tavern

PROFILE: Laurentian University | Sudbury, Ont. | Founded 1960

University Insider: Jessica Robinson, 21, Communications and English, Rhetoric and Media

Students at Laurentian University are no strangers to the cold. However, activities like skating on the frozen lakes that surround the campus make the ice and snow less of a nuisance and more of an excuse to splurge on a nice coat and extra scarf.

A bilingual and tricultural school (English, French and Indigenous) that prides itself on having unique signature programs that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else, Laurentian boasts an 18-to-1 student-to-professor ratio, which means you’re just as likely to find yourself chatting with your prof in the Starbucks line as in a lecture hall. Though the small classes might sometimes make it feel like you’re back in high school, the close bonds and specialized education that come with attending a smaller university are worth it. It definitely makes it easier to get your foot in the door of any club, committee or executive group that interests you (meaning resumé-building is a breeze).

Lately, with building closures and construction, campus modernization has made it more difficult to get around. But the university’s plans, including an open-concept, multi-tiered welcome centre that opened last year, promise a final product that will be well worth the hassle.

The tight-knit vibe of the Laurentian campus is reinforced by students’ tendency to continue living on residence past first year. With six of the eight residence buildings open to upper-year students, friends often find themselves living just a couple doors down from each other year after year.
If you can brave the winter and are looking for a personalized education experience, Laurentian University is the ideal school for you.

Extras
Laurentian’s lakefront campus beach earned the school a ranking among the top 30 universities with beaches internationally in 2015. The beach is the site of more than a few midnight swims and student parties over the year, whether it’s sunny or snowing. If you prefer to stay indoors during the winter, the Ben Avery Gym hosts varsity basketball games nearly every other weekend. They have some of the best student turnouts of any sporting event on campus, though it’s unclear whether the free admission or the rowdy Pot Bangers (Laurentian’s notorious cheering squad) are the ultimate draw.

Local Vibe
The university campus is technically located outside the city limits, but catching the right bus can get you downtown in 20 minutes. Once you arrive, you find yourself in the midst of the up-and-coming art scene of Northern Ontario. Large-scale events like Cinéfest and Art Crawl are cropping up more frequently, and there are live music events every single night of the year. Sudbury isn’t known for being a party town, but you quickly learn which bar or club is hottest on any given day—it’ll be the one crammed with students from Laurentian and the surrounding colleges.

The Skinny
Laurentian University makes excellent use of Twitter, with a whole host of accounts that offer vital information and quick responses to any queries: check out @LaurentianU to stay on top of all LU events.

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