Student social clubs
There are three main different kinds of student social clubs : “cercles”, “régionales”, “ordres”.
- The first kind, the “cercles”, are student social clubs linked to a faculty. They have their own bar open every day except Friday and Saturday and organize many activities like welcoming and integrating new students and making big parties. The advantage is that the beer is a lot cheaper than in pubs and it’s more convivial. But we strongly advise you not to take your jacket or your best clothes to go there! The student social club linked to the faculty of applied sciences is called CI (Cercle Industriel).
- The second, the “régionales”, gather students coming from the same region regardless of their studies. Their activities are quite similar to those of the “cercles” but most of them don’t have their own bar and thus rent another one. The Lux and the Carolo have their own bar.
- The last, the “ordres”, are a bit different. They gather people who share the same ideas on life and party and people can still be part of them when they’re not students anymore. They don’t have bars and most of the time their activities are not open to public. They hold meetings regularly where the members drink and sing around a table and following some rules. You can recognize their members because they wear a ribbon across the chest with the color of the “ordre”.
Typical features
There are several features you can see on a student at a party. As we just said, the ribbon is the attribute of the member of an “ordre”. Worn on the right shoulder it indicates a full member, on the left one a candidate to become full member.
There is also a kind of laboratory apron, initially white but covered with lots of writings and a big drawing in the back. Their owners have been "baptised", an activity aiming at integrating new students. On one sleeve you can see his/her university career and on the back the date of the baptism and the faculty. It’s usually worn only in the beginning of the academic year and when going to student gatherings outside the home university.
What you will probably see most is a kind of hat called a “calotte”. It’s very personal and very precious to its owner. To obtain such a hat they had to pass a sort of test during one afternoon or one evening called a “corona”. During this they’re tested on their knowledge of student folklore, of Latin formulas used during a corona, of songs (some are “sacred” and compulsory, other are to be freely chosen among the students songs), on their ability to “read” the hat, and finally, after many many beers, on their real motivation to get that hat. If you can read such a hat, you can tell many things about a student’s life, career and character. When they have it they can take part in coronas.
Usually people also wear sweat-shirts or T-shirts of their student social club/association which make it easy to recognize in what they’re active. Organizations linked to the faculty of applied sciences.
In this faculty, the student associations are very active and have been grouped together so as to be stronger. Together they form the GCI (Grand Cercle Industriel). Here is a short description of these associations. Links to their websites can be found in the links page of this site.
The Contact Europe Cercle Industriel is also know in the world as the Local BEST Group of Louvain-la-Neuve. BEST (Board of European Students of Technology) is an international student association organizing exchanges between students of technology universities in Europe. It has 66 local groups in more than 20 countries creating a wide student network. In Louvain-la-Neuve we organize a Summer Course each year to which students from abroad can take part. We are also in charge of the exchange activities of the faculty: Athens, Cluster, Erasmus. So when you’ll arrive at our faculty, we will welcome you with a little drink and help you to settle comfortably in our city.
The Cercle Industriel is the student social club which organize parties and social activities and has a bar. Go there at night if you want to drink a beer not too expensive with people belonging to the faculty. Of course it’s also open to other people as well.
The Service d’Impression du Cercle Industriel provide the syllabus and books you need for the courses. The delegate of your class will inform you about the availability of these. For more information see the page “Studying at our Department »
The Contact Cercle Industriel Industries is in charge of the organization of a jobfair, visits of factories, CV books and in general of making a link between students and companies.
The Cercle Industriel Académique consists of all the class delegates and represents the students in the faculty during the meetings with teachers and administrators. #mailto:BDE-FSA@student.uclouvain.be#
Sports
Do sport!
For all sporting activities organized by the Sports Service of UCL, a sports membership is needed. This membership is usually valid from Mid September till June the next year.
Price
40 € for an EPL student (Louvain-la-Neuve campus)
20 € for an exchange student (on a stay that lasts less than 6 months)
What is included in the CSE and ASPU sporting membership
Access to activities – You have free-of-charge access to all sporting activities offered on the two campuses (Brussels-Woluwé as well as Louvain-la-Neuve), at certain fixed times mentioned in the “regular activities” rubric. Only a few activities require the payment of a small supplement.
Insurance
You are covered in case of an accident during one of our activities. A form will have to be filled out at the Sporting Service (except for some risky sports such as hang-gliding, sailing, etc. For more information, phone 010/47.44.40).
Information: