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WOW: Where Mustang Memories Begin

Two WOW leaders jump together at WOW-A-Rama.
Students walk toward a WOW booth in the 1970s.
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Students walk toward a WOW booth in the 1970s.

WOW students pose for a group photo in 2003.
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WOW students pose for a group photo in 2003.

WOW students gather in a cafeteria, circa 1957-59.
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WOW students gather in a cafeteria, circa 1957-59.
A group of Cal Poly WOW students walk through San Luis Creek beneath downtown San Luis Obispo during a 1982 "Sewer Tour." Image courtesy of the Telegram-Tribune.
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A group of Cal Poly WOW students walk through San Luis Creek beneath downtown San Luis Obispo during a 1982 "Sewer Tour." Image courtesy of the Telegram-Tribune.
WOW group leaders hold up their signs in 2012.
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WOW group leaders hold up their signs in 2012.

Two WOW group leaders smile for a photo in 1971.
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Two WOW group leaders smile for a photo in 1971.
WOW students sit around a bonfire at Grover Beach in 2022.
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WOW students sit around a bonfire at Grover Beach in 2022.

WOW students participate in a team-building exercise in 1986.
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WOW students participate in a team-building exercise in 1986.
WOW students sit in a circle on the lawn in 1989.
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WOW students sit in a circle on the lawn in 1989.
WOW students sit in a circle on the lawn in 2025.
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WOW students sit in a circle on the lawn in 2025.
WOW Orientation in Mott Gym in 2003.
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WOW Orientation in Mott Gym in 2003.

WOW students gather around a bonfire in Cambria in 1961.
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WOW students gather around a bonfire in Cambria in 1961.
WOW students visit Bubblegum Alley in downtown San Luis Obispo in 2017.
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WOW students visit Bubblegum Alley in downtown San Luis Obispo in 2017.

Since its start as Welcome Week in 1957, WOW has marked the beginning of the Cal Poly experience for generations of Mustangs. It began as a leadership training camp at Camp Ocean Pines in Cambria, bringing together students from campus clubs, Associated Student Body and student centers — the original WOW leaders.

As Cal Poly’s enrollment grew, WOW grew too, transforming from a leadership camp into a peer-led orientation that introduced new Mustangs to campus, San Luis Obispo and one another.

From Rooter Caps and the iconic Sewer Tour to the high-energy fun of WOW-A-Rama, the traditions have evolved – but the excitement of arriving at Cal Poly together has remained. 

Images courtesy of the University Archives Digital Collection and the San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune.