In Clemsons Death Valley, freshman year begins with orientation, and a giant paw

Let’s face it. Freshman orientation can be, well, a bit disorienting. So many new faces to meet, dorm rooms to decorate, classes to find, cafeteria entrees to sample, social mixers to browse, textbooks to rent, parents to hug and send back home.

When you’re suddenly free and on your own for the first time, it’s hard to know what to do next. One solution to focus the mind: Get everyone in one place and form a giant human tiger paw.

That’s what Clemson University decided to do Tuesday to initiate its new students into the spirit of what they call Death Valley. Not the arid place in California that’s below sea level, but the gridiron in Memorial Stadium in South Carolina where the Tigers play football.

Clemson, founded in 1889, is a distinguished public university with about 3,475 freshmen and 1,350 transfer students among its 21,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Most of the newcomers showed up for this photo op.

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Do they do this every year?

“No, this is the first year it was done,” Clemson spokesman John Gouch said Wednesday.

It took about 20 to 30 minutes to get everyone into just the right spot. The marching band director, Mark Spede, maneuvered students via the stadium’s loudspeakers. The band formed the outlines of the paw, and then the newcomers were funneled in.

There also were pep talks from coaches and a rendition of the school’s fight song. To the beat of “Tiger Rag,” students clapped their hands and then pumped their fists in the air as they spelled out “C-L-E-M-S” — then lingered on the “O” and hurrahed on the final “N.”

What was the point?

“To instill some school pride into the kids,” said Ken Scar, of the Clemson news office. “Get ’em fired up to be Clemson Tigers.” Presumably, the goal was accomplished.

Here’s a time-lapse video, courtesy of Clemson TV, of how The Paw took shape (and dispersed).

Here’s another vantage of the event taking shape, from the perspective of the band director:

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