Universiade '83 officially begins on July 1, 1983, but the University of Alberta will have begun welcoming the world before that.

Athletes will begin settling into the Games Village as soon as it opens on June 19, and competitors from around the world — at last count, 94 countries had accepted the invitation to compete — will continue to arrive daily over the course of the next week. The three focal points of the Athletes' Village will be Lister Hall, which will be home to about two-thirds of the Village residents, the new Garneau Housing, which will house the remainder, and the Students' Union Building, which will provide additional space and services.

And then, on June 30, as a grand conclusion to the University's 75th Anniversary year and a regal introduction to Universiade, the university will confer an honorary doctor of laws degree upon His Royal Highness Prince Charles, heir apparent to the throne. The following day, His Highness and Princess Diana will officially open the World University Games of 1983.

During the Games, which continue until July 11, the University campus will be the venue for competition in volleyball and basketball, and the new University Tennis Centre, located adjacent to the Michener Park Residence Complex, will be the site for tennis competition. In addition, the campus will provide training facilities for athletics (track and field), volleyball, and weight lifting.

Beyond the strictly sporting, other activities planned for campus will extend the welcome to the world even further. These include a special exhibition, Masquerade, at the Ring House Gallery; a Native display complete with log cabin and teepees in the Quad, and a related showing of artifacts in the Heritage Lounge of Athabasca Hall; the hanging of colorful banners made by the Faculty Women's Club; and an exhibition entitled Local Exposure: Swim-wear on the Prairies, sponsored by the Historic Costume and Textile Study Collection.

The Ring House Gallery's Masquerade will pursue three sub-themes: Native Masking Traditions, World of Masks, and Performance. Native Masking Traditions is a survey exhibition of Canadian Native masks, presenting masks used in ceremonies of religion, healing, theatre, and social ritual. It illustrates the diversity in form of masks that have similar purposes, and it links the Canadian masking tradition with the universal practice. The masks are on loan from Canadian museum, university, and private collections.

Visitors to the Ring House Gallery can anticipate a 'hands on' experience with the World of Masks. Included in this exhibit are masks donated or on loan from countries participating in the World University Games. Six Alberta students who are working in the areas of visual art, drama, and anthropology will co-ordinate interpretive activities with the exhibition — which should result in an exciting experience for visitors.

On Thursday evenings from June 16 to July 21, Performance will be presented on the Gallery's east lawn, beginning at 7:30 each night. Performance will feature Canadian performing artists who deal with the concepts of illusion and reality as expressed by the use of masks and costume.

Masquerade is being supported by the University/Community Special Projects Fund and the Alma Mater Fund.

A committee of Kaleidoscope '83, the cultural arm of Universiade, is co-ordinating a Native Display for the central Quad area. The committee, which includes representatives of the University's department of native affairs, is planning to showcase Native dancing, handicrafts, and other skills. As part of this, teepees and a Metis log cabin are to be erected.

Complementing the Quad activities will be a show of Native artifacts in nearby Athabasca Hall. Most of the Native items are from a collection purchased by the University in 1919 and regarded as one of the finest small collections of Northern Plains Indian artifacts in existence. Collected by O.C. Edwards, a medical doctor practising in the Fort Macleod area of Alberta in the first decade of this century, it contains material from the heyday of the Cree and also from the period of collapse occasioned by the decimation of the buffalo herds. Much of this latter material shows the handiwork of a proud people using inferior stuff — fine beadwork on tattered clothing, for instance. The show is being mounted with the co-operation of the department of anthropology, which maintains the Edwards' Collection for research purposes. The focus is on Native work and recreation and the show is being completed with Metis artifacts from outside collections.

To promote the Native display, some of the 60 colorful banners which will decorate the campus during Universiade will have native themes. The banners are the handiwork of the Faculty Women's Club and will hang from campus light standards, particularly those in the area of the new Universiade Pavilion and along the avenue between the Students' Union Building and HUB.

Two blocks north of HUB, at the corner of 87 Avenue and 112 Street, Local Exposure is being presented inside a bright white and yellow tent. Running from June 16 to July 10, it illustrates the vast changes in the appearance of swimwear in the past 100 years, in keeping with changes in fashion technology and attitudes towards modesty. Dressmaker, knit and synthetic suits representative of those worn on the Prairies are presented in a playful manner in a beach-like setting.

While their colleagues are providing a warm welcome to campus, a number of people from the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, will be deserting campus for three days in early July. They will be found at Edmonton's new Convention Centre, taking part in the CESU conference which is scheduled for July 2, 3, and 4.

CESU is the study commission of the Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire and it holds an international sports conference every second year. This year the conference is being held in conjuction with the World University Games.

The theme of this year's conference, which has drawn participants from more than 50 countries, is The University's Role in the Development of Modern Sport: Past, Present and Future.

Published Summer 1983.