Events & Traditions

Here in Champlain College we offer a wide variety of events throughout the year. These events present you with the opportunity to meet people outside your classes, and outside your usual social connections.  Connecting students, staff, faculty, and Alumni - connecting across disciplines and generations - we will ensure that you have access to the services and networks you’ll need to succeed in your university life.  It is our goal to motivate you to celebrate cultural diversity, to increase your time outdoors, and to appreciate the environment that you live in!  Join us and register for events today!

2021- 2022 Calendar of Events

For more information on each event, click on the link to the event below.

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You can see updates about the events in the weekly college newsletter "Discover" being emailed to you and on MyTrent events calendar. If you are not a Champlain student but are interested in receiving the college news letter please email champlain@trentu.ca to be placed on the list.

For any other questions regrading events and collaborations please email champlain@trentu.ca 

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Fall 2021 Term 

September 

• September 6th – College Welcome 
• September 6th-10th – Orientation Week  
• September 6th-20th – Cabinet Nominations 
• September 9th – Welcome Home - Flavours of Peterborough Food Fair
• September 10th – High Table Dinner 
• September 18th-19th – Curve Lake Pow Wow 
• September 20th – Fall Semester Book Club Begins 
• September 24th-26th Fall College Weekend 
• September 27th – Cabinet Elections 

October 

• October 1st-3rd Head of Trent (HOTT) 
• October 25th-29th Reading Week 

 
November 

• November 4th – Morton Lecture 
• November 10th – Walking Together 
• November 15th-19th – International Education Week  
• November 15th - International Education Week Keynote Speaker 
• November 24th – Earn Your Stripes 

December 

• December 3rd – Holiday Event (Cabinet and College Office) 
• December 10th-23rd – Exam Period 

Winter 2022 Term 

January  

• January 10th – Winter Semester Book Club Begins 
• January 13th – Celebration of Excellence 
• January 17th-21st – Scientists in Residence 
• January 28th-30th – Winter College Weekend  

February 

All month – Black History Month 

• February 4th – Walking Together  
• February 16th – Life After Trent  
• February 21st-25th – Reading Week  

March 

• March 1st-15th – Cabinet Nominations 
• March 5th – Champlain Formal  
• March 22nd – Cabinet Elections 
• March 25th – Champlain Graduation Celebration 

April 

April 11-27 – Exam Period 

Past traditions

Scientist/Artist/Alumni/Writer In Residence

Over the years we have had several guests (writers, artists and Alumni) stay in Champlain College to meet with students and give lectures about their work and life as a professional. In 2015, Distinguished Alumnus Stephen Stohn '66, lawyer and Degrassi executive producer, was selected as our Alumni-in-Residence and students were given many opportunities to interact and learn from him.

Bon Temps Weekend

In the final weeks of January, Champlain College hosts their annual Bon Temps College weekend. During the weekend there is a college wide Broomball tournament on our very own personally made rinks behind residence and a FREE dinner for ALL Champlain students. This is a great social event that spans the Friday and Saturday Jan 25th and 26th. 

Champlain Campus Recreation Teams

Sign up to play intramural sports for your college team, make new friends and have some fun! Champlain College sponsors a team for every sport offered in the campus recreation league from innertube waterpolo to volleyball and soccer. We provide you with a t-shirt and an invitation to attend the end of season Campus Rec banquet. Find out more in the College Office.

Champlain College Canoe Trip

Just up the road from Trent University lies an opportunity to immerse yourself in adventure, explore your limits and discover the landscape that surrounds you. Join your Champlain College community this fall reading week for a canoe trip in the beautiful Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. This experiential opportunity will bring students, staff, faculty and alumni together to explore themes of Indigenous connection to the land, the history of the canoe in Canada, geography of the area and backcountry canoe tripping skills.  Beginners are welcome and encouraged to attend. All equipment, transportation and meals provided.

Celebration of Excellence

The celebration of excellence is an academic based reception that honours all students in the Champlain community that have received an 80% GPA from their courses from the pervious academic year. 

Earn Your Stripes

At Champlain, we want you to strive for success—and we want to reward you for success.  In November, the college presents college scarves to First Year students who are successful in their academics, and to those who are actively engaged in college life through programs, activities, or life in residence. 

Float Your Boat

This event is hosted by your Champlain College Cabinet. Float Your Boat is a fundraiser for the Peterborough Aids Research Network. Students put teams together to raise as much money as they can. Teams then gather to make a ‘boat’ out of recyclable materials and proceed to race their boat down a portion of the Otonabee River.  It is a fun event for a good cause!

Floor Hockey Tournament

Twice per year Champlain College Cabinet clears the tables out of the Great Hall and creates a hockey rink. Students of the College are then invited to submit a team and compete in a fun Floor Hockey tournament for the day. This is a great event to get out, have fun and get a little exercise!

Formal

Every year in March, Champlain College gets all dressed up in our finest for a catered dinner and dance downtown. People from every year gather to eat and dance their troubles away Champlain style!

Graduates Dinner

Every year all Champlain College graduates are invited to a free catered dinner to celebrate their time here at Champlain and Trent. Awards and prizes are given out throughout the dinner. Students speak of their time at Champlain and reminisce about their last four years. These students are moving on and will now become Champlain Alumni. Champlain for life!

Holiday Event

In the spirit of the holiday season, this annual event invites all students to gather within the College and reflect on this year thus far and celebrate the joy of the festive season till they meet again in the new year. 

Harvest Weekend

In one of the first weekends of October Champlain hosts and celebrates Harvest Weekend. Harvest has a plethora of events. Over the Friday and Saturday of the weekend there is a touch football tournament called ‘The Pig Bowl’. Throughout the weekend there is also a Pub night at the Ceilie, a Chilli and Karaoke night (Chillioke), and a FREE Harvest dinner for ALL Champlain students. This weekend has something for everyone.

Milk Run

In collaboration with the Trent Central Student Association (TCSA) during frost week, the milk run invites students from all Colleges to toboggan down the drumlin with a pitcher of milk in hopes of being the team with the most milk in the pitcher at the end of the round. This event typically takes place after the winter holiday break and serves as a welcome back for students. 

Publication Celebration

This annual event celebrates faculty members of the Champlain community for their outstanding research findings and publication. Students, staff and faculty are invited to come together to hear short presentations about the publications of faculty fellows for the past academic year.

Stress Busters

Every October, December and March Champlain College Cabinet puts together quick and crafty events to help ease the stress of ‘crunch time’. Things such as pumpkin carving, making Christmas decorations and making stress balls have been known to take place in the past. 

West Bank BBQ

The Off Campus BBQ is a FREE dinner hosted by Champlain College Cabinet for ALL off campus students. Whether you live on or off campus, you are a member of Champlain College and will find many ways to get connected. Many first years and the majority of upper year Champlain members live off campus. This dinner is a celebration of the participation and love for the college that is found off campus. 

Archive Calendar of Events

• 2017-2018
• 2016-2017