From Monday, April 10 to Sunday, April 16, the student-run zine Disorientation is hosting Disorientation Week, a series of events focusing on engagement with campus culture and activism. The current members of Disorientation revived the publication in the fall after a five-year hiatus with the renewed goal of educating students—especially incoming first-years—through candid takes on campus life with the hope of presenting a more realistic picture of the University.

So far, Disorientation Week has featured a Cookie Kick-Off, an Activist Mixer, and a dinner and discussion with the University’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). On Friday, April 14, there will be a tour of the University Organizing Center (UOC), and on Saturday, April 15, there will be a screening of the short film, “The Importance of Being Lula” by Luisa Rodriguez ’22. The week will conclude with Disorientation’s weekly meeting on Sunday, April 16, where prospective contributors can get to know current members and get more involved with the zine.

“Disorientation week is our way of engaging with the community beyond the zine,” Disorientation member Richard Bennet ’23 wrote in an email to The Argus. “We want to show that critique and collective action are key to making change at this school. It really doesn’t take much to be engaged with the school a bit more and I think with a little bit of effort and care we can make Wes ours again.”

Bennet, who contributed to the effort to bring Disorientation back to campus, emphasized that the events have been planned to attract a wide array of interests. Attendees receive punch cards, which they get punched for each event they attend. At the end of the week, students can turn their cards in to be entered in a raffle. The winner will receive a tour of the network of tunnels beneath the University.

“Whether you are more into social events, formal discussions, media, or you’re just looking to check out the vibe, Disorientation week proposes different ways to generate critique,” Bennet wrote. “Discourse doesn’t just happen on print, it’s dynamic and alive on campus in the work people do so it’s important to highlight that.”

Gazi Rahman ’25, who serves as the outreach coordinator for Disorientation, underscored that the week can help students get a better sense of Disorientation as a whole and allow them to engage more fully with the University.

“Between learning about on-campus activism, engaging with professors, and creating connections with staff, I think students get a great view of what it’s like digging below the student-layer of the community,” Rahman wrote in an email to The Argus. “In a lot of ways, as we try to get a strong sense for why campus works the way it does, I think Disorientation gets a great look ‘under the hood’ of Wesleyan.”

Disorientation member Erin Byrne ’24 explained that another goal of the week is to recruit people to contribute to the zine for the issue, which will come out right after orientation week at the end of the summer.

“I really would love to see Disorientation thrive as a place for people to learn about the history of the university and get excited about student organizing,” Byrne wrote in an email to The Argus. “It can be absolutely exhausting to work towards organizing on this campus without any help, and Disorientation has been so energizing for me as a student trying to work with laborers on campus to find out what they need and how students can help them.”

This week of events has been in the works since the beginning of the semester, as Robyn Wong ’23 explained in an email to The Argus.

“It all came together pretty organically,” Wong wrote. “We collectively brainstormed events, drawing from the work Disorientation had already been doing (e.g. with the professors union, AAUP), and from our own spaces of involvement (UOC, Tunnels) and our personal networks (e.g. to get the film into Disorientation).”

The AAUP dinner and discussion, especially, served as an opportunity to strengthen relationships between students and faculty/staff.

“There is potential for solidarity: some of their thoughts about the university are strikingly similar to the student perspective,” Wong wrote. “However, staff and faculty also have a much more long-term perspective and hold a wealth of institutional memory and knowledge that provide an enriching perspective on Wesleyan’s culture and community. This is important to Disorientation’s project of remembering what Wesleyan once was as well as reimagining what Wesleyan could be.” 

Bennet, too, commented on the planning process and how it has given members a chance to reflect on the zine’s progress.

“It’s been great planning the events because it shows how the organization has grown in the past year,” Bennet wrote. “We have very talented and dedicated members in the club who want to make change at Wesleyan which makes the organizing a lot easier. Work doesn’t feel as draining when you have people supporting you and Disorientation has been a great network to rely on.” 

Rahman emphasized that Disorientation is a space where anyone can get involved. 

“I see Disorientation as a hub for student culture,” Bennet wrote. “It’s completely by students, for students. It’s so all encompassing; I see Disorientation as a place for student clubs, bands, organizations, affinity groups, comedy groups, writers, just about anyone on campus to converge and engage with one another.”

Disorientation member Ruby Clarke ’24 echoed Rahman’s sentiments, underscoring the accessibility and openness of the organization.

“So long as you are at Wes and have an opinion/experience at Wes, you are qualified to write an article (which should be everyone!),” Clarke wrote in an email to The Argus. “If you are interested in participating in the zine or the club as a whole, please come to our Sunday meeting at 3 pm in the UOC (upstairs in the room with blue walls).”

Looking forward, Disorientation hopes to continue expanding its community collaboration and amplifying student voices.

“I see Disorientation as a hub for student culture,” Rahman wrote. “It’s completely by students, for students. It’s so all-encompassing; I see Disorientation as a place for student clubs, bands, organizations, affinity groups, comedy groups, writers, just about anyone on campus to converge and engage with one another.”

Bennet reiterated the importance of continuing the work that Disorientation has begun.

“I’m confident that Disorientation has the potential to make a positive impact on our community, but in order to achieve that, we must continue demonstrating that activism can be both enjoyable and engaging,” Bennet wrote. 

Wong expressed that the organization has allowed her passion for activism to grow alongside her friendships.

“For me, Disorientation has been the space where my best friends, greatest collaborators, and the advocates I admire most at Wes have collided in both critical and joyfully fun ways,” Wong said. “I hope that we are able to share this sense of simultaneously serendipitous and intentional community with the wider Wesleyan body!” 

Both Bennet and Wong will graduate in May, but each remains confident in the lasting impact the zine will have on campus in future years.

“I sincerely hope that we can continue engaging with important issues within the university through our events, in addition to the publication of the zine, for many years to come,” Bennet said.

For more information on Disorientation, please visit @disorientation.wes on Instagram.

 

Gazi Rahman is the Web Editor for The Argus.

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@wesleyan.edu.