KITCHENER — Party on, Laurier. You won't hear any complaints from the university president.

"You know, we have a bit of a reputation as a party school," Wilfrid Laurier University president Max Blouw told The Record's editorial board this week. "Well, some people view that negatively. I actually view it very positively because it is truly an opportunity to engage, to learn who you are, learn what excites you, what scares you.

"And at Laurier, students really engage with one and other. They really engage with student clubs, with volunteers and in the community — the purple and gold, the spirit — it's absolutely fabulous. I believe that's enormously invaluable."

Blouw said social gatherings breed learning.

"We often take students just when they're leaving their parents and before they have mortgages and kids and spouse and responsibilities. It gives a period of time for real human development to take place.

"I believe it's an incredibly formative time in anybody's life. When I talk to our alumni, very often they will say to me, 'It's the most important thing that ever happened to me … to leave home, go to the university, find out who I am and then hit the world running.' I believe that Laurier encourages engagement of one student with another — social engagement."

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