Author: By Sean Meekins

As the first semester comes to a close, I look back and reflect on the first three months. During this short time my knowledge about Trinity College has grown. I have become more accustomed to the every day life of a college student. Trinity College, located in Connecticut, is a small liberal arts school with a rigorous curriculum. Trinity pushes its students to strive for excellence while balancing the thriving social life. Andrew Roberts, a professor at Northwestern University, in his book The Thinking Student’s Guide to College provides readers with insightful tips on how to better your education at colleges like Trinity (Roberts back cover). Roberts’ provides readers with a list of 75 tips that cover topics from choosing a college to learning outside of the classroom (Roberts Index), in hopes of preventing students from falling into the trap of receiving an average education. Roberts’ tips, provided in this book, apply well to Trinity College.  Trinity College can be a place where you can definitely get the most out of your education, if you follow some of Roberts’ tips. Many tips that are presented in this book I found overwhelmingly interesting, and helpful to my personal experiences here at Trinity College. Although there are tips that are undeniably useful for Trinity College, I feel that I could include tip number 76 to better Roberts’ guide to Trinity College.

Although the majority of tips in Roberts’ guide apply well to Trinity, there is one tip in particular, I feel, is the most valuable, tip number 48, which reads, “Ask for Help.” Trinity provides its students with so many opportunities to seek out help. Some of these programs include, the Supplemental Instruction Program (S.I.), Teachers Assistant Program, Writing Center, and varieties of teacher’s office hours are available to the entire student body. These programs are run by upperclassmen that, as a credit, hold tutoring sessions for any student who wished to attend. The help needed is available and all students have to do is ask for it. From my experiences here at Trinity students should just “go to their office house when you have a problem and even before” (Roberts 99). In this quote by Roberts’, office can be used as a variable for any form of help being providing, but the biggest emphasis I would like to put on this small excerpt is “even before.”  I started of my Chemistry 101 class with a 95 on my first test, but that did not stop me from going to my S.I. sessions. It is not just about going to get help when you are struggling. Through my S.I. sessions I have learned new ways of solving Chemistry that the professor did not teach. Going to these sessions has expanded my education because; I am not only learning methods from one educated professor, but also many other individuals. The grades increase is probably one of the last reason’s why asking for help is important. Although my grades have gone up since attending these sessions, I feel that I have grasped the material better than ever before. On top of this, if a student is struggling in a class, why would they not use these resources? I have watched friends pay hundreds of dollars for tutors in high school, and now you get to a college that offers you “free” tutoring you must take them up on that offer. There is no point to waste opportunities to get the most out of your education, and with the resources provided here at Trinity, I feel this tip is the most valuable for this college.

Roberts’ does a great job in providing successful tips for Trinity; however I have come up with a tip that I feel would significantly help an incoming student. When it comes to choosing classes I feel students should choose classes that are challenging, yet not overwhelming. When students choose classes that are too difficult, and they struggle just to pass that class their hopes of getting a better education dwindles. Students become aggravated with their schoolwork and shut themselves off from learning. Students who struggle mightily with a class that is too advanced, they begin to focus on just that particular class. This prevents them from gaining the best education possible because they are so caught up on passing this class, that is out of their reach, they block themselves from getting a better education. This has happened to me in my first semester at Trinity College. As of now I am struggling to maintain a C- average in my current Calculus class. On the days that I have gotten back tests and quizzes from Calculus that have low grades; I do not feel any motivation to learn the rest of the day. This prevents me from getting the most out of my education from my three other classes. In order to pass my Calculus course, I have to spend hours studying for one quiz. This prohibits me from learning new things outside of my four classes because I have to devote my extra time in order to pass one class. In order to get help for my Calculus class, I am forced to sacrifice review session in my Psychology course. Alternating once a week would be suitable, but if I don’t go to these review sessions for Calculus I am in danger of failing. My experience shows that picking class that you are struggling to pass is going to lessen your education. If I had picked an easier mathematics course I feel I could have definitely gotten more out of Trinity College in my first semester.

The Thinking Student’s Guide to College, by Andrew Roberts provides many tips that fit into bettering a student’s education at Trinity College. College is quite expensive, and it is advised that you do not go through the motions just to earn a degree. By following the majority of Roberts’ tips, students at Trinity College can strive to gain the best education possible. “Ask for Help” is just one of many tips that apply here at Trinity College. Through my experiences in my first semester there are many ways that students can strive for a better education at Trinity College. Roberts’ book, on top of other tips such as choosing challenging, yet not overbearing classes, are just some ways in which a student can get the most out of their education at Trinity College.

Works Cited

Roberts, Andrew Lawrence. The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2010. Print.

About the author: Sean Meekins is a first year student at Trinity College and is writing this for  Jack Dougherty’s first year seminar Color and Money

Trinity’s campus suffers from many problems regarding race and social class, one of which is the fact that the minority students feel isolated from the every day activities on campus. The P.R.I.D.E. program at Trinity “is a program organized by the Office of Multicultural Affairs aimed at supporting students from diverse backgrounds and encouraging interaction among all first year students at Trinity College” P.R.I.D.E. offers a “three day pre-orientation program, called “The Welcome Weekend”, that helps international students and students of color become acquainted with Trinity’s physical and social atmosphere.” “The Welcome Weekend”[1] helps create a social atmosphere amongst the first year students that from the beginning of school separates the students of color from the White students.

“The Welcome Weekend” sponsored by P.R.I.D.E. is sought to do good for the incoming students at Trinity College, but in fact has caused a separation among racial minority and white students. P.R.I.D.E. is not the problem driving racial separation on campus, but rather the lack integration amongst students that is caused by “The Welcome Weekend.” The pre-orientation program helps facilitate racial division on campus. P.R.I.D.E. students have already made friends within the first three days of their pre-orientation program, similarly to how football players make friends with kids on the football team before the rest of the freshman class arrives. This gives these students a sense of community and comfort that they do not wish to break as the majority of students enter campus. The difference between “Welcome Weekend” and the football team’s preseason is that there are both racial minorities and racial majority players on the football team compared to “Welcome Weekend” that highly recommends racial minorities to participate.  Arriving to campus early, unfortunately, creates a divide amongst students that already have made friends and students that have not had the chance to make friends yet.

Imagine that you are an incoming freshman student at Trinity. In this scenario, you are part of the _________ group on campus. This particular group asks you to arrive on campus before the rest of the incoming freshman. Without having the chance to meet anyone outside of the group, you begin to form friendships in this _______ group. You start doing everything with the other members of the group. You participate in the same activities as them. You eat all your meals in Mather with them. You hang out with them during the night etc. Once all your all-fellow students arrive on campus you continue to hang out with the group of friends that you have already made because you are now comfortable with them.  In the scenario we described above, can you tell if we are talking about the football team or the racial minority students that participated in “The Welcome Weekend?” The reason that all programs, who ask students to come to school early are not being questioned is, that unlike the “Welcome Weekend”, no other program only allows “international students and students of color”[2] to participate.

When Trinity sophomore students were interviewed about how race and social class affected them on the Trinity campus the P.R.I.D.E. program was brought up and specifically the “Welcome Weekend.” Mary, who is a racial minority on financial aid on campus, spoke about “ The Welcome Weekend” and said “A feeling that I got from them (Welcome Weekend Leaders) was like be aware of the wealthier students, the wealthier white students they will treat you, it’s like there a difference between you guys.” Mary goes on to say, “We were like set up to hang out with one another (Other minority students) instead of embracing the maturity and like promoting respect, right. And of different um-different cultures, did not necessarily happen because we stuck with the minorities rather then mixing or, like getting to know other students from Trinity, or having a full on orientation.”[3] Mary’s comments about the pre-orientation program reflect the exact scenario described above. Mary’s comments are saying that the program ended up making her feel more different from the norm on campus. Mary ends her statements on “Welcome Weekend” with saying “Initially I hung out with minorities because I was too timid to approach anyone else that hadn’t participated in P.R.I.D.E.”[4]

In order to find a plausible solution to this problem of racial division on Trinity’s campus it is necessary to look at other similar institution’s orientation programs.  Amherst, a racially diverse NESCAC school, is completely doing away with its pre-orientation program. There solution might be drastic, but the president of Amherst feels that as freshman the school should “stand first for integration and secondarily for the special adjustments required by ethnicity, race, religion, nationality, or other aspects of identity[5].”  Amherst’s ideal situation with their pre-orientation might be a little extreme, but the problems arising at Trinity College throughout the years must be solved. Amherst’s solution is not the answer to the P.R.I.D.E. program, but it shows that there are barriers, in dealing with race, that we must work on overcoming [6] and the solution that Trinity is using is not working to integrate these students. Amherst has not had any notable racial issues, since they did away with a racial pre-orientation program; whereas, Trinity College has experienced multiple racial issues with the “Welcome Weekend” the way it is. In fact, similar to Amherst, Trinity cancelled  “Welcome Weekend” for the class of 2015, due to a hurricane this year and hasn’t had a notable racial problem thus far.

The dean of Yale, Mr. Brodhead, says that if “Any program powerful enough in one week to alter the way people think about things would have to be one hell of a good program.[7]” This sarcastic claim proves that all the statements made by the people in P.R.I.D.E. who wish to integrate students who are minorities coming into Trinity College can be refuted. One week, let alone three days, cannot change the way students perceive new surroundings.

P.R.I.D.E. is not a program that can be removed from the Trinity College campus, it does a lot of good to be removed, but it is something that can definitely be altered to do more good.  We feel that “The Welcome Weekend” should be removed from the program.  It is something that is causing racial separation as said by the Amherst president.  Incoming freshman need to interact with all of the students, it is what makes the college experience. Students should not be grouped with a small group of students during P.R.I.D.E., and never interact past that group because they feel so comfortable in it. If P.R.I.D.E. allows freshman orientation to play out and students to interact with peers of all races, and then they can incorporate their programs into the student’s life. “Welcome Weekend” can be replaced with meetings or gathering once or twice a week, and make them optional, yet highly recommended. With meetings during the week, this would allow for the P.R.I.D.E. program not to have to compete with the immensely popular  fraternity life.  P.R.I.D.E. should encourage a student in their program to bring a friend, not from the program, to the meetings. This would allow for a chain of new students interacting with one another not just during the first 3 days of school but rather throughout the whole year. This gives students a chance to integrate themselves, by brining friends from outside the P.R.I.D.E. program, and encouraging them to interact with one another. If P.R.I.D.E. could manage to keep their program meetings interesting, even the idea of food outside of Mather Hall would get students of all races to the meetings.

The P.R.I.D.E. program as it is right now remains a mystery to the majority of the Trinity campus. Students know so much about events like 80’s night, a popular dance ay Trinity College, but really don’t know much about P.R.I.D.E.  Removing “The Welcome Weekend” from P.R.I.D.E. will help students who aren’t racial minorities know that they are allowed to join. “Welcome Weekend” in a way has become an initiation to P.R.I.D.E. that white students don’t know they can join after the weekend is over. We feel that if students can interact with people on their own, the program will thrive mightily as the year goes on. People from all different races can come to meetings because their friends are members of P.R.I.D.E. and tell them what it truly stands for.

The P.R.I.D.E. program is not a problem regarding race or social class at Trinity’s campus. It is our belief that “The Welcome Weekend is. By removing the welcome weekend and making slight changes to the P.R.I.D.E. program will dramatically help with racial issues that the Trinity campus has.

[2] P.R.I.D.E. Official Newsletter. Brandon Lewis.

[3] Interview Transcripts

[4] Interview Transcripts

[5] Gose, Ben. “Do Minority Orientations Encourage Segregation?” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 4, 1998, sec. Students. http://chronicle.com/article/Do-Minority-Orientations/2236/.

[6] Bartlett, Tom, and Karin Fischer. “Diversity Programs and Social Norms.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 19, 2007, sec. Letters to the Editor. http://chronicle.com/article/Diversity-ProgramsSocial/1867/.

[7] Gose, Ben. “Do Minority Orientations Encourage Segregation?” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 4, 1998, sec. Students. http://chronicle.com/article/Do-Minority-Orientations/2236/.

  

Sean Meekins

Trinity College is far from perfect in regards to race and social class. Although there are many problems one problem of race stuck out in my head from the interviews we conducted with the sophomores. PRIDE a program for minority students at Trinity College.  These students are asked to come a week earlier to get to know there way around and meet other minorities. I feel these is a problem and so did a minority student I interviewed. I feel that the Trinity campus is divided by race heavily and a lot of the burden lies in the hands of PRIDE. The fact that these students have already made friends before they arrived on campus, allows for an extra barrier to be climbed over in regards to making integrated friendships. This program might be meant to do good, but in the long run I feel it has caused an enormous race divide here at Trinity College. This program either has to be altered or removed, or else these racial cliques will be hard to break.

A possible solution to this problem is to make the program something that occurs once a week during the school year. This would allow for the students to arrive on Trinity with a total open mind and meet students from various cultures before they meet students from the same backgrounds. This would definitely break the divide. This could also let students who partake in PRIDE to bring over students who aren’t apart of PRIDE to these meeting so that more students can interact. I feel this would be a great way to open up the campus of Trinity College. It is just something that is a suggestion. There are definitely more solutions, but this one in particular could change a lot. I just feel the preconceived notion to be comfortable and interact with your race is intensified by PRIDE occurring before the school year starts.

Information I need to make this paper stronger is to go through all the NESCAC schools and see if they have a program like PRIDE and see what they entail. Go through schools from the most diverse to the least and see if their problems with race are intensified due to race-based programs. I need this information so that I can compare it to Trinity and see if this is truly a problem. I can see if diverse schools who have a good intermingling of students have different methods. I also feel that views from Trinity College students and faculty of all races on their views about PRIDE and whether it is good or not will allow for a good paper to be written.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvLSqMSCggFHdE1odTNrU3FMeFlyTVVzVnNHRVZlQ0E&hl=en_US

Here the link

As members of the admissions committee we have devised a process to cut down the list to seven students left with one of those seven (Paula Nunez) being strongly admitted.  We did a point system in which we gave a point to each category we felt was required.  For every applicant with two points or higher we decided to allow them to be accepted (with the exception of two). The Dean of Diversity called for more minority students so we gave each minority a point.  Then the Athletic Director felt that it was important to mention that the basketball and soccer coaches recommended two students. Although we gave the swimmers a point, the swimming coach did not ask for names to be forwarded; therefore, we kept Christopher Clarke on the waitlist. Daniel Juberi was another student who, although he plays basketball, was a member with two points who didn’t meet the criteria’s in the sense of his academics.  Although Caitlin Quinn has not met the academic standards the Vice President of Developments letter weighs heavily on the decision, so therefore we decided to give a point to the students who have been recommended, due to alumni, by higher order officers. We gave a point to those students who the board felt should be admitted during our class discussion. Finally we took the top six SAT scores and gave a point to those students who we felt achieved above average with their scores. Although we didn’t cut down the list to only three students, we have managed to cut the list down to seven. This will hopefully allow us to cut down to our final three soon enough.

Daniel Juberi is a perfect match for “The College.”  I feel that he should definitely be admitted as a member of the incoming class because of the numerous skills he inhibits. As I looked through his recommendations it is apparent that his teachers and counselors reviews have been nothing but extraordinary. Aside from a few setbacks in his high school careers it seemed that Daniel’s strengths far outweigh his weaknesses. Daniel has expressed an interest in his community, his studies, and his athletics. Daniel’s strength’s are embedded in his ability to be someone who can be the poster child of a school. He manages to keep a consistent grade point average throughout his four years of high school. He was not only a book worm, but was the captain of the basketball team winning the most valuable player. Being the captain of both the clubs and sports, Dan proves to be someone who goes beyond the mandatory school work. His leadership qualities are something a school normally doesn’t see within kid who grew up with no staple fatherly figure in his life. A school would choose Daniel because he can speak out against the things he doesn’t believe in. He is not some dumb jock who only knows how to play sports. Daniel is someone who has not only dealt with adversity, but manages to fight through the tough times a succeed in excellence. Finally, Daniel is someone a college would want because his priorities are set. He knows what he wants in life as he made his stride towards taking multitudes of math and economic courses to achieve his goal as a economy major. Daniel is the whole package, someone who a school needs, intelligent, athletic, a leader, and someone who could change a school.