While Python is my language of choice, I'm happy Waterloo starts off with Racket (Scheme/Lisp family language). Very little syntax to learn and great for recursion. I'm not really qualified to comment whats best, I just know I enjoyed it.
I am sure that there are a lot students that wish XYZ university taught CS with python. However, with all due respect I do not think HN is the right place to express your opinion about your university's curriculum.