Where's the Beef?

A lot of days make up a students' four years at Harvard, but perhaps none are as important as those crammed into orientation week. The friends made while standing in line at the Union and the independence experienced by being away from home for perhaps the first time can have great impact on life in coming semesters.

As Dean of Freshmen Elizabeth S. Nathans Finishes her first year at Harvard and convenes the Publications and Planning Committee today to contemplate changes in next year's orientation week activities, she and others at the Freshman Dean's Office (FDO) must institute long-needed reforms for orientation week 1993 and continue to encourage student input in the planning of next fall's events.

Orientation week needs to become more focused on presenting first-year students with the issues that they will be discussing in dining halls and common rooms throughout their time at Harvard. Evening ice cream bashes and dances do not present new students with the issues they will face every day nor do they prepare students for life in the volatile Harvard community.

To be most effective, orientation week activities need to be conducted in small, interactive groups. Nathans has already expressed her support for making orientation week more interactive and she should be applauded. Mandatory discussions now held in proctor groups throughout the year, such as those led by Actively Working Against Racism and Ethnocentrism and Peer Contraceptive Counseling, should be moved to orientation week.

These and other events should focus on campus issues--such as gender and minority relations--and encourage dialogue among first-year students. Led by upperclass students involved with each issue, the discussions would introduce first-years not just to campus-wide problems, but to older students living beyond the Yard. In addition, Nathans should ensure the issues traditionally addressed in large Sanders Theatre lectures--namely plagiarism--are discussed in a more personal environment.

Events should be planned that focus on Harvard's diversity. The recently released federal study "Campus Tension in Massachusetts: Searching for Solutions in the 90s" suggests that "structured" events work best to create dialogue between minority groups. While Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III's retreat for minority leaders worked well at the start of this academic year, the idea needs to be expanded to include events that bring together all students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds and not just their leaders.

This format should not be limited to interactions between minority students. All students--men and women alike--need to be presented with issues concerning intimate relationships. No matter what definition of date rape is officially endorsed by the University, first-year students must be exposed to the arguments underlying this campus debate. Orientation week flings are as much a tradition as the screening of "Love Story" and first-years must discuss the acceptable forms of conduct.

Upperclass students should meet with first-years to relay the sensitivity necessary for learning and living with people from different backgrounds. Differences in sexual orientation, religious practice and even political leanings should be discussed in the week before classes start.

Part of making students sensitive to their new classmates backgrounds should include the University recognizing the diverse religious backgrounds students have. The FDO must end its habit of scheduling mandatory functions on the Jewish high holidays--particularly next year when Rosh Hashanah falls at the end of orientation week. The FDO must take into account all religious holidays when setting the orientation week calendar.

To accommodate the added schedule of events, orientation week activities could continue in the evenings of the first semester's "shopping week," an innovation that has already been presented to FDO officials. First-years, like upperclass students, rarely know which classes they are taking by then and thus would have homework-free time to devote to these discussions.

Finally, the FDO committee could help introduce first-years to their new home: Cambridge and Boston. While hunts for plates in the Yard would still continue, proctors and upper class students should continue to accompany the new students on a trip into the city. It would give first-years a better understanding of their surroundings and encourage them to take advantage of the cultural offerings that the Hub presents. Above all, in all the excitement of their first week of college life, students should be urged to think of themselves as citizens of a larger, urban community.

The FDO committee should continue soliciting student input in its deliberations and turn to the only group devoted to issues affecting first-years: the Undergraduate Council's first-year caucus. The FDO wants student input. This is our suggestion card.