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= Soph = Orientation Week (O-week) student leaders at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) and it's affiliate schools (Huron University College, Brescia University College, and King's University College) are called “sophs”. Sophs welcome new students to the university every year, help facilitate orientation week programs, promote diversity, acceptance and equity on campus, and provide support to first year students all year long.

Residence Soph
Residence sophs are student leaders who live on the same floors as students in the residence-housing system. They facilitate orientation week and provide support, advice, and friendship throughout the school year.

Faculty Soph
Faculty sophs are student leaders who live outside of the residence system and are assigned to students based on their specific faculty. Faculty sophs facilitate orientation week, provide academic guidance, support, and friendship throughout the year.

Head Soph
A head soph is the leader of their respective soph team. They facilitate team building and programming during Orientation Week and the rest of the year.

Residence Head Soph
A residence head soph facilitates programming for students in residence with their soph team and residence council throughout the school year. The also live in residence with students.

Faculty Head Soph
A faculty head soph facilitates programming for students in residence with their soph team and residence council throughout the school year.

Residence

 * Ontario Hall
 * Essex Hall
 * Elgin Hall
 * Saugeen-Maitland Hall
 * Medway-Sydenham Hall
 * Huron University College (affiliate)
 * King's University College (affiliate)
 * Brescia University College (affiliate)

Faculty

 * Health Science
 * Science
 * Music
 * Engineering
 * Arts and Humanities
 * Social Science
 * FIMS
 * Off-Campus

Soph Names
Sophs do not use their real names during Orientation Week. Each soph has a nickname that corresponds with a story from their lives, and students call them this for the duration of Orientation Week. At the end of O-week, each soph team has an event called "soph reveal". It is here that students learn the real names of their sophs and the stories behind their names. After this, some students call their soph by their real name, while others call their soph by their soph name for the duration of the year. Some examples of soph names are: Tarzan, Fiesta, Snapback, Chip, and Puddles.

Uniforms
Each soph team has a specific uniform. All teams wear a t-shirt and/or sweater with their faculty/residence brand on the front, and their soph name on the back. Some teams have special uniform traditions. For example: teams like Engineering and Medway-Sydenham wear coveralls that they hand decorate themselves. Saugeen-Maitland Hall often sports full face-paint of the residence's colours (red, yellow, and green) during the opening and closing ceremonies of O-week.

In 2015, new soph uniform guidelines were created due to the controversy of how bandanas were being worn and the connotation behind this.

Cheers
Every soph team has specific cheers that vary from year to year, with the exception of Engineering who's tradition is to not cheer at all. They are performed by the sophs and first year students during the opening and closing ceremonies of O-week.

Alliances
Certain soph teams have created an alliance/bond with each other over the years. Some examples are as follows:
 * Perth Hall, Ontario Hall and Essex Hall have a "South-side pride" cheer together
 * Ontario Hall and Delaware Hall have a "Deli-Rio tic-tac-toe" cheer together
 * Engineering and Music both carry cutlery to the opening and closing ceremonies to show their alliance to each other
 * Science, Health Science, and Social Science have a "Tri-sci fusion" cheer together

Events
Sophs run and participate in many events throughout the year. Popular soph events during O-week include Shinerama and the Terry Fox Run.

Shinerama
Shinerama is a large post-secondary fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. Western has been participating in Shinerama since 1968 and has raised over 3 million dollars. In 2016, Western adjusted the focus of Shinerama. Rather than the majority of students going door-to-door to raise money, Western's Student University Council (USC) decided to remove the door-to-door component and had students give back to the London community instead. Sophs are the leaders of Shinerama. They take students to their location to raise money or participate it community activities.

Terry Fox Run
The Terry Fox Run is a walk/run in the Canadian hero's name to raise money for cancer research. Western participates in the Terry Fox Run annually, along with Cuts for a Cure. Cuts for a Cure allows students to donate their hair to be made into wigs for cancer patients 19-years-old and under and is organized by the Health Science student council.

Application Process
The application process to become a soph is different depending on if you are applying to become a faculty soph or residence soph. Both include an online application where you are required to answer specific written questions. Being successful in this step can lead to an interview, and then possible acceptance into the role. The applications can be found on UWO's Career Central website. Important dates can be found on UWO's orientation week page.

Orientation Week
Usually falling within the first two weeks of September, the University of Western Ontario holds a week long orientation program to welcome new students to campus. In recent years, the week has consisted of faculty based programs, residence tours, and late night entertainment programming. The objective of the week is to help students become accustomed to campus living, and aid in fostering friendships for the year to come.

History
Before class registration occurred online, Western students would have to physically wait in line to sign up. Upper year students began realizing that first year students were spending more time in line than getting to know campus within their first few days. Wanting to change things, upper year students began running programs to show students all that Western has to offer them. This later developed into the Orientation Week and Sophing program.

Past O-Week Performers

 * Walk Off The Earth
 * These Kids Wear Crowns
 * Anjulie
 * Jesse Labelle
 * Lights