NEWS

New Student Retreat for September Students

Update: October 10, 2018

New Student Retreat was held on Saturday, September 29, for students who enrolled in ICU in September this year. It is an orientation event held every year to cultivate awareness as an ICU student and a deeper understanding of the philosophy of ICU and its education.

Although it was unfortunately raining on that day, more than 90 undergraduate and graduate ICU students as well as students on exchange from overseas partner schools attended the event, which comprised of a keynote lecture, group discussions, faculty-planned programs to experience what it's like to learn at ICU and programs to experience Japanese culture.

ICU Professor Emeritus William Steele gave the keynote speech titled "The Ideals of ICU: Looking Back, Looking Forward," which was followed by a speech on "Things that I learnt from ICU" by an ICU graduate, Mr. Ling Van Uk (graduated in 2015). After listening to and in light of the two speeches, the new students took part in group discussions on diversity, a theme that ICU has valued since its founding.

In the next section, faculty members offered eight different programs respectively relating to translation, genetics, exercise, environment, physics, mathematics, economy and service/learning. Each student participated in whichever program he or she was interested in to get a glimpse of learning at ICU. New students also got a chance to experience Japanese calligraphy and kendo (art of fencing) as examples of Japanese culture.

To introduce some comments heard from participating students: "I learned a lot about the history of ICU. The graduate's speech was interesting and gave me a good grasp of what I might be experiencing in my college life and even an image of my career after I graduate." "I was able to compare our background cultures and share new thoughts with students from all over the world. I also made new friends, which was nice."

*Retreat
The retreat was started by a volunteer Bible study group in the early 1960s, shortly after ICU was founded, and in the mid-1970s, it became a regular event like it is today for new students. It is an occasion for new students to deepen their understanding of the university's philosophy and liberal arts education as well as establish their identity as ICU students. Starting from AY2019, a joint overnight retreat camp will be held to promote active exchange between students enrolled in April and those enrolled in September.