In his second year at Laurier, Greg Overholt founded Laurier SOS (Students Offering Support), a charity to help early-year students prepare for exams. Students pay for a peer-led session, with proceeds going to fund schools in developing countries. Laurier SOS has raised more than $200,000 to date and has grown into a national charity operating at 15 universities across Canada.

A Real Community
Laurier offers its students a small-university experience with big-university opportunities. There is a genuine sense of community on our four campuses, a quality that our students, faculty, staff, and alumni are keen to preserve. In fact, many of our alumni tell us that our close-knit feel is what clinched their decision to attend Laurier in the first place. Laurier students are passionate about volunteerism, leadership and extra-curricular involvement. We support that passion in many ways, from our innovative Student Leadership Centre to our community service-learning programs, which combine academic course work with volunteer placements in the surrounding community. As well, there are more than 100 student clubs on the Waterloo campus alone, giving students plenty of opportunities to get involved, engage in healthy debate, and assume leadership roles within the university.

Co-Curricular Record
Laurier was the first Canadian university to formally recognize the educational and career benefits of volunteer and leadership activities by offering a co-curricular record — an official chronicle of a student’s involvement in campus activities. Since Laurier introduced it in 2004, more than 4,800 students have completed a co-curricular record.

Student Leadership Centre
Laurier’s Student Leadership Centre encourages and enables students to get involved in university life and the broader community. Guided by the philosophy that leadership is about getting involved, and that all students have the capacity to make meaningful contributions, the centre offers a wide range of leadership training, activities and volunteer opportunities.