What is WOW?
That's a good question. WOW is an organization created for orienting new students to life at Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo. The LITs are the people who make this possible. Since we deem this an important job, we on TEAM WOW train them for that task. That is the textbook definition of WOW. What this does not explain is why, year after year, hundreds of students volunteer their Tuesday nights and come back a week early for Fall Quarter to show the WOWies around.

Here's why: This program is, by far, made up of the most fun, random people you will ever meet. It also has this strange tendency to create life long friendships and, in some cases, romances between those who make it their home. People who have graduated and left San Luis long ago still pop by for a visit to Tuesday meetings and other special events. These are the Friends Of WOW or FOW. This program can be life changing, to say the least. That's why many of us keep coming back for more. The text in these pages cannot explain this phenomenon, nor can words, but it happens. Can it really be that big? TEAM members get an inkling of how big the program is, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

WOW is the sort of program that can be the most wonderful, fun and exciting experience you will ever have. It can create the best of friends and can be a place you never want to leave. The only conditions are the ones you put on it. By being a member of this program you become WOW. You are part of its history and its future. In short, WOW will be everything you decide to make it. It is your program. Take some ownership in it. Make it yours. Make it fun.

What is FOW?
The Friends of WOW (FOW) Interest Based Chapter is designed for alumni who were involved with the Week of Welcome Orientation Program. Our goals are to support the WOW program by keeping in contact with one another and educating new WOW leaders with the history and traditions of the program. FOW will continue to make new students feel welcome to the Cal Poly community by helping WOW produce quality leaders.

WOW Evolution
Week of Welcome history adapted from information provided by the University Archives, Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. To better understand WOW and its goals, we'll take you on a little trip back in time. Way back in 1901, when Cal Poly was founded, there was an orientation program. It was nothing like it is today. Over the years, it continued to grow and be restructured, until in 1957, the term Welcome Week was coined. New students were organized into 25 to 30 WOW Clubs of about 29 new students and four counselors. Each club had its own nickname and theme. The Welcome Week booth was located in a variety of places during the next few years, including the Administration Building Lawn, and even at what is now Mott Lawn. The booth had a PA system to play records and music, and they served refreshments to new students that stopped by. Half of Welcome Week was spent on campus learning about campus resources, going on campus tours, and visiting San Luis Obispo itself on tour busses. New students could also go to various dances and mixers throughout the week, some of which were held in the new Men's Gym (now called Mott Gym), and Crandall Gym.

The other half of Welcome Week was spent at one of three 2-day Welcome Round-Up Camps at Camp Pinecrest and Camp Ocean Pines (where TEAM retreat is currently held) in Cambria. Each camp had panel discussions, dances, ping-pong, volleyball, baseball, church services, a treasure hunt to acquaint new students with campus policies, rules and functions, speakers from campus, group question and answer sessions, and the annual "Hootenanny."

In 1960, WOW meetings were set at 7 p.m. on Tuesday nights, new students complained about not having enough breaks, and they had to stuff new student folders. Their version of Campus Knowledge was a 75 question quiz given to new students. At the end of the week, prizes were given to the top students who answered the quiz correctly. Counselors were required to have a minimum 2.0 GPA in 1960. New students and counselors were obligated to wear "Rooters Caps" which became a tradition for many decades. One mascot for WOW was even a cartoon rooter cap guy holding a WOW flag. In 1961 it was suggested that the WOW Clubs only have 2 counselors per group, and the extra 2 became the first ever Event Staff.

WOW is all about traditions and the history that makes it up. To move forward, we should remember the past and the roots that we come from.