This summer, I worked as a New Student Orientation Leader. Among other duties, the job required me to give presentations, distribute apples and watch each “Not Ready for Bedtime Players” skit about 12 times. Our director also challenged us to confront the “lonely souls” within the Worcester Dining Commons. While most dine with their new friends made within the first hour of orientation, other, lonelier types of students sit in solitude during meals.
Some folks may simply prefer this relaxation time. Their exhaustion from first-year information overload requires a meal to recuperate not just their bodies, but their racing minds as well.
Most “lonely souls,” however, sit with an air of uncertainty. Their eyes dart around the room, looking for others walking without any specific table in mind. After a few unsuccessful attempts to connect with their peers, one lonely soul might resort to web surfing on their smart phone. Another may stare down to admire their award-winning oatmeal, only to wonder why their praiseworthy meal tastes so bland in the absence of company. These are the new students, the “lonely souls,” who I approached at each NSO session.
Of course, the conversation was terribly awkward at first. I’d hack my way through the basic topics – major, hometown, preferred housing – to find a springboard from which I could bounce into more unique conversation. Sometimes, they just wouldn’t break. In those cases, I’d often resort to faking a sudden family death or a life-threatening wheat allergy.
Other moments required fewer medical fibs. I once asked a new female student coming from an all girls’ school what she thought about her new dating options at our co-ed university. She politely ignored my heterosexist assumption and remarked that guys weren’t really her thing. We both then delved into a discussion of Northampton’s famed statistic: the highest number of lesbians per capita in the U.S. Providing a “lonely soul” with even that brief instance of company better connects each incoming class to its new home.
By the end of NSO’s run, the majority of new students leave summer orientation looking forward to their first September at UMass. A small percentage of other students, mostly those “lonely souls,” go home with doubts.
Let’s face it: UMass isn’t always a wonderland of NSO fun during the school year. As their first and second semesters pass, the number of doubting students grows in number. The leaves fall to reveal the uninspired Brutalist architecture and the Student Union stops hosting open mic nights. First years eventually settle into friend groups and the NSO staff no longer scouts the dining commons looking to welcome each student.
The university does what it can to support a variety of student interests. Football coach Charley Molnar energetically informs all first years of the campus’ active sports culture. For the intellectually inclined, the school provided guest speakers such as linguist and political critic Noam Chomsky, excessive consumerism critic Annie Leonard, and even environmentalist Colin Beavan, author of “No Impact Man.”
Tour guides advertise the Goat Herding Club, but mention that if herding animals isn’t your forte, then you have the resources to start your own unique club. All of these options exist, of course, alongside specialized Residential Academic Programs and Faculty First Year Seminars. It’s a big school, but there are options.
The initial number of doubters doesn’t disappear, though. Just the opposite is true: by the time an incoming class finishes its first year, 12 percent of its students will have decided to leave the university. Financial burdens suck a few students out. For others, college simply is not the best choice. But the fact that a whopping eighth of UMass “lonely souls” don’t return for sophomore year indicates that something systemic is afoot.
During a recent meeting, Dean of Students and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Campus Life Enku Gelaye informed the Faculty Senate that many students feel disempowered and disconnected on campus.
Harry Rockland-Miller, the Director of the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health, chimed in to identify a primary cited reason for students leaving: unmet “emotional, relational or family-based issues.”
The administration understands that even as our retention rate grows stronger, staff must create new projects to build a more cohesive sense of community. And it’s been doing exactly that with the newly launched UMatter @ UMass campaign, led by the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health. So far, the initiative’s leaders have introduced a general understanding of bystander intervention to all first-year students. More UMatter efforts are still to come.
UMatter is just one of a pool of new community-based initiatives. The new Commonwealth Honors College Residential Complex now provides a cluster of students a closely-knit intellectual community. Even more lectures from academic superstars will continue to foster debate among the student body and greater Amherst community. I know one lecture last semester did just that.
Some Collegian columns like this one end with the writer ragging on the administration, but I can’t exactly do that here. Many of the problems of UMass’ lack of school spirit stem from students themselves. Overhear the informal feuding between humanities majors and engineers. Witness a Friday night documentary screening garner a single digit audience count, then listen to complaints about the lack of campus events. Others perpetuate the cycle of “lonely soul” syndrome by plugging into iPods between classes.
I’ve brushed over our architecture, but allow me to contrast the two issues. Sure, UMass architects decided to make our buildings look like sand-colored waffles. The waffles may be here to stay, but the campus’ social climate is more malleable than ever. Campus-wide initiatives have made the university more attractive to “lonely souls” in recent years. University leaders have kept more first years with each passing semester, but some responsibility falls on the shoulders of current students to make it a less lonely time.
Brandon Sides is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at [email protected].
