In recent years Camp Crimson has overhauled their program and made a variety of improvements. These improvements have resulted in the student recommendation rating rising from 88.5% to 94.3%.
A campers mother, Michelle Cameron, even said “...going to camp allowed [my daughter] to get a preview of what she was going to be getting into once she was a freshman in college. She had a head start on where her classes were going to be held as well as the financial aid office, the health center, and the Union.”
But with these improvements to the activities campers have come to want more free time rather than activities.
Garrett Vascil, a past camper, says “we kept having all these planned activities and all I wanted to do was hang out with the people I was meeting and get to know them better.”
Incoming freshman and future Camp Crimson participant Caitlyn Kayser says “the thing I am looking forward to most is meeting new people.”
So this raises the question, is Camp Crimson too structured with the various activities, and should there be more free time for students to hang out with the people they meet?
A large majority of incoming freshmen are nervous and feel uncomfortable within their new surroundings so icebreakers do have their place. According to past small group leader Bryan Johnson “the ice breakers help to ease tension in the beginning and help everyone to open up but eventually everyone does get tired of doing them.”
Kayser says “she expects to have social activities and games” at Camp Crimson “but hopes that there is more than that so she can make deeper connections with the people she meets”.
Is there a way to balance getting incoming freshman enough information about the campus and the various traditions, and to allow them the space they want to be able to make new friends?
According to Camp Crimson’s website, ou.edu/campcrimson, “Camp Crimson is OU's premier orientation camp for new Sooners. It is a three day/two night crash course on what it means to be a Sooner and how to succeed at OU. You'll get a jump start on your time here at OU by meeting other campers, student leaders, faculty and staff, and participating in a lot of fun activities designed to prepare and launch you into your time as a student at OU.”
Every summer Camp Crimson is attended by the vast majority of incoming University of Oklahoma freshman. These incoming freshmen, like Kayser, are hoping to make friends more than anything else, but Camp Crimson is intended to allow students to be introduced to the campus, the traditions, the dorms, and most importantly the students they would get to know in the coming years.
According to the numbers, Camp Crimson has been doing a great job at all these aspects including meeting other campers but students want more. They want to connect with more future classmates and on a deeper level.
The majority of a camper’s time is spent within their small group. While this group does allow them to interact with others, it does not create bonds outside of this very small group of students.
Students are unable to establish friendships with those outside their small group because they do not see those people for the majority of their day. Vascil says “I would meet people in other small groups but wouldn’t become good friends because I rarely saw them”.
Johnson says “I hope that since small group leaders are signing up now that they will have good ideas on how to make Camp Crimson an even better experience than the one that they had.”
Johnson’s stance may be the best possible solution. How better to fix a problem than to turn to the people who understand the issues and the relationships at stake.
Camp Crimson has improved overall since it was started and it will continue to grow and adapt to the needs it must fill. One can only hope that this problem will be solved as soon as possible. It would benefit campers, as well as Camp Crimson, to have a first experience that guarantees a great four years to come.
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