Some four dozen entering Denison University freshmen will brave the wilds of West Virginia this weekend as a special orientation for their four-year course of studies at the Granville liberal arts college.

The Denison Outdoor Orientation (DOO) experience, now in its second year, is led by a hardy cadre of trail-tested professors and student campers who survived last year's three-day trek into the wilds of the Monongahela National Park in Eastern West Virginia.

This "unique, challenging and enjoyable transition into life at Denison " promises the backpacking freshmen a chance to form new bonds and friendships without the usual interference of CD players, cell phones, walkmans, discmans and other distractions of dorm life, according to Denison's Dean of First-Year Students Don Schilling, professor of history.

The program starts at 9 a.m. this Friday (Aug. 18) with the Wilderness Training Institute (WTI), when all participants will gather at the Mitchell Recreation and Athletics Center for an on-campus series of sessions led by art historian Karl Sandin and other facilitators. Among their topics: Expectations of hiking in the Otter Creek Wilderness, including lessons in wilderness hygiene by Chemistry/Biochemistry Assistant Professor Peter Kuhlman.

This will be followed by a series of workshops on:

After completing the WTI on the Denison campus, including a trial hike Saturday afternoon in Denison's 350-acre Biological Reserve, the group departs Sunday morning for West Virginia.

There, they divide up into teams of eight students and one faculty/student leadership team and spend two and one-half days exploring the Otter Creek Wilderness Area in the Monongahela National Forest near Elkins, W.Va. The DOO'ers return toTuesday (Aug. 22) to join the other 600-plus members of Denison's Class of 2004 in August Orientation activities prior to the Aug. 28 start of classes for the fall term at Denison.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575