Activities for welcome event for incoming PhD students? My department is planning an event (2-3 hours) welcoming incoming PhD students and giving them a chance to meet the rest of the department.

So far, the proposed activities for this year's welcome event are: welcome from department head and graduate program director, happy hour, followed by dinner and more drinks. (The idea behind all the alcohol is to "lull them into a false sense of what a PhD program will really be like.")

Any ideas/suggestions for what to do at this kind of event?
At the risk of making this event too serious, I would suggest that you have several speakers who talk about their personal experience concerning how they survived grad school, in this department/school or in others.

There is no more valuable information for incoming grad students than information about the personal side of grad school and how to avoid the pitfalls.  And there no better way for them to feel connected to the professors and students in the department than through personal and meaningful stories -- both the highs and the lows.



I offer this suggestion because, personally, I find such meet-and-greet events to be dull, boring, and worthless, no matter how much alcohol is on offer.  I realize that many academics have meager social skills and that standing around with drinks in hand can sometimes get conversation started.  But I still find it a waste of time.

Likewise, "welcome" speeches are typically vapid and cosmetic.  You will never here any new graduate student (or new employee of any kind) say:


  "I didn't feel comfortable starting at X, but  then I heard that amazing welcome speech by the Department chair."