Laurentian University: student life on campus

The 411

If I wrote the school motto:
“Dress warm, watch out for bears, and take your chances with the path up from the pit”
Best place to live:
Any of the residence buildings are great. I am biased toward the single-student residence because that’s where I lived in first year.
Best place for a nap:
The Brenda Wallace Reading Room, a.k.a. the Brenda Wallace Napping Room, on any of the couches or armchairs
Best cheap lunch:
Tea and Bloom. It’s a small menu but always amazing, and they have bubble tea.
Best hangover breakfast:
Tutti Frutti
Best campus food:
Waffle fries from the Pub Downunder
Best bar for hanging out:
Peddlers or Rhythm ’n’ Cues
Best pizza:
Laughing Buddha for eating in, Topper’s for takeout
Best place to study:
Third floor of the library or a study room in the atrium
Weirdest tradition:
The inaugural portage to mark the start of a new year
Best campus event:
Either the Welcome Week Concert or Nuit Blanche that happens at the McEwen School of Architecture
Best giveaway:
The Students’ General Association’s 12 Days of Giveaways at Christmas
Best live music venue:
Grace Hartman Amphitheatre
If I could change one thing about the school:
Its placement in the city. We’re on the outskirts but if we were right downtown that would be ideal.

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

With roughly 6,400 full-time undergraduate students each year, Laurentian ensures you’re not just a number—you’re a person with a name. Since my first year, I have always been on a first-name basis with all of my professors and teaching assistants.

The residence team also works hard to engage students living on campus. There are plenty of opportunities to bond with your floormates and meet new people, like Sunday sports, Pizza Hut Prom, a boat cruise and Tight N’ Bright bowling. My floormates became my family, which is just what’s needed when you’re living away from home.

Laurentian also offers a wide variety of programs, including some unique ones. There’s one of the only gerontology programs in the province along with one of the few five-year concurrent education programs and an undergrad program in outdoor adventure leadership.

It gets cold in Sudbury. If you’re not a fan of the cold, many of our buildings are interconnected. We even have a tunnel that connects the science buildings to the classroom building. From there you can navigate to seven different buildings on campus.

We have programs offered in both English and French. We also have strong Indigenous ties. You can attend smudging ceremonies and drumming circles in the Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre.

We even have a beach right on campus. Nothing’s better than finishing class and walking down to our very own private area. There’s even cliff jumping if you need an adrenalin rush.

After Class
Our campus recreation team works hard to organize intramural events and offers different sports each semester. They also offer free classes like yoga and organize a colour run each year as a part of Welcome Week. If you would rather sit on the sidelines, join our pot bangers who position themselves behind the visitors’ bench at basketball games and create a noise to be feared. If you’ve got more of an artistic background, there are annual events like AirBandz and LU’s Got Talent to showcase your skills.

Local Vibe
With a population of roughly 161,000, Sudbury is a nice size for someone who doesn’t want to jump into a big city. Coming from a small town in southern Ontario, I wanted to be in a smaller community. In the warmer months, you can hike the trails at Lake Laurentian conservation area, or head down the road and hike in Killarney. If hiking isn’t your thing, there are 330 lakes in all of Sudbury. In the winter, you can snowshoe, skate on the Ramsey Lake skate path or cross-country ski on our many trails right on campus. You can even catch an OHL game downtown watching the Sudbury Wolves or the Sudbury 5 Basketball Team. There’s also so many unique and locally owned cafés, bistros and restaurants.

More Info
The Lambda: The LU English newspaper allows students to keep up to date with ongoing events on campus.