February 9, 2012
Hamilton College’s firstyear orientation program has gone through a bit of shake-up. The College’s Office of Residential Life will now run the program, which was formerly run by the Student Activities Office. The recent orientation for January-admitted and transfer students reflected this change.
In November, Dean of Students Nancy Thompson announced the creation of the ad- hoc Committee on the First- Year Experience. She stated that the purpose of the committee is to“explore, review and propose those approaches to the first-year experience that will be most effective at Hamilton.”
Travis Hill, director of Residential Life and a member of the committee, discussed how often the committee’s topics on the first-year experience pertain to Residential Life. Hill said, “Because of the importance of the residential component of the first-year experience, it makes more sense for Residential Life to run the orientation program.”
While the change is significant, its implications are not as noteworthy. Hill and his colleague Janine Knight of Residential Life discussed their intentions to keep as much of the original program intact as possible. Hill said he hopes to “build upon an already strong orientation program.” He did not see a real need for an overhaul of the agenda and the system already in place; instead he wants Residential Life to “put its own spin on an already great program.”
Hill and Knight said their plan was to keep many of the same games and educational programs in place. There will be sessions on safety, alcohol and sexual assault that will largely stay the same. Nevertheless, Knight said due to the “overwhelmingly negative reaction to the Kristen Stewart video on sexual assault” shown at orientation this past fall, they will most likely look for a new video. However, Hill and Knight did praise the panel that followed that video for their discussion of how the topic affects Hamilton students specifically.
One thing that will change, though, is the involvement of the Residential Advisors in orientation. A common misconception is that RAs will replace Orientation Leaders, which is not true.
Knight said, “We’re not going to eliminate orientation leaders; we are just going to emphasize a strong collaboration between the two groups during the program.” With no specific plan currently as to the role RAs will play, the idea generally is to introduce new students to their RAs and begin the formation of a strong, yearlong relationship.
Hill said, “We want RAs to be the best possible resource for new first-years. In the past due to negative perceptions about our RAs, there may have been a missed opportunity for the growth of such a relationship.”
Hill and Knight wanted to dispel the notion that RAs are solely there to enforce policy and to reinforce that they are also there for informal counseling and community building.
First-year students agree. Eliza Kenney ’15 said, “It would be really nice to have someone there for you as a freshman that you could feel comfortable talking to as a mentor. I think that right now RAs get a bad rap that they probably don’t deserve because we didn’t have the chance to get to know them well during orientation.”
Wynn Van Dusen ’15 shared a similar view. “I think it’s important to form a bond with your RA, and initiating this during orientation week is a great idea. Nevertheless, I still think it is important that first-years have the ability to make a connection with their orientation leader and other upperclassmen, because that was a highlight of orientation for me.”
Hill and Knight are very excited to run the orientation program this coming fall. They invite all students to apply for orientation positions that will become available in March or April. Around that time, they expect to have a much clearer and specific idea of their vision for orientation and will host information sessions regarding their plans. In the meantime they welcome all questions via email or in person.