Whitman frosh lend a hand to seniors in need

A new program that will give seniors in Whitman College an additional perk — on top of having functional laundry machines — is drawing skepticism from the University community. The voluntary Whitman Thesis Buddies program will pair each participating Whitman senior with two underclassmen who will be “on call” during the three weeks prior to their senior’s thesis deadline.

In an e-mail to residents of the college last week, Whitman College Director of Studies Cole Crittenden explained that participating underclassmen will be responsible for helping their senior buddies out with such things as “picking up a midnight snack, taking care of a load of laundry, picking up/dropping off some library books, or proofreading a chapter for spelling mistakes.”

The buddy program is an effort to support upperclassmen living in the four-year college, Crittenden explained in an e-mail to The Daily Princetonian. “For seniors we thought about a few programs we could offer, especially around the thesis.”

“We think Whitmanites will want to help out their seniors because those are students that live right alongside them. In many instances relationships between upperclass students and their younger neighbors are already in place. This program will encourage and build on that success,” Crittenden said.

Running errands

The program is eliciting mixed reactions from the campus community.

At least one freshman is interested in the program. “I think it’s fair to help seniors.  They’re in a situation we’ll be in ourselves,” Philipp Bewerunge ’11 said. “We’ll get something back when we’re seniors. [And] it’s good to meet people,” he explained.

Whitman senior Stan Gabryszewski ’08 agrees that the voluntary nature of the program should contribute to its efficacy. “I predict that most underclassman-senior pairings will work out just fine, since each of the students will already be seeking an opportunity to connect with another fellow Whitmanite by virtue of signing up,” he said in an e-mail.

Gabryszewski is considering signing up for freshman buddies. “When I first found out about the program, I could not help but to form an image of helpless freshmen running around the clock buying me subs from the Wawa,” he said. “I personally would feel bad about making someone else do my chores, but I suppose that, as long as the freshmen willingly sign up, this could help to foster a stronger bond between the underclassmen and the seniors,” he explained.

On the other hand, some students are skeptical of what the program intends to accomplish. “It’s not going to foster much of a relationship,” Whitman freshman Zachary Solomon ’11 said. “The thesis is the last thing a senior does,” he said, explaining that seniors on their way to graduation are more interested in finishing their independent work than in making friends with freshmen.

Solomon said he doubts the ability of the buddy program to introduce underclassmen to the thesis process. “They make it seem like you’re getting an understanding of what it’s going to be like to write a thesis,” he said.

Students are also not sure how necessary buddies are to thesis-writing seniors. “Part of being a senior is fitting things into your schedule,” Garland Castaneda ’11, a Whitman resident, said.

“I feel like I would definitely not participate because I feel that it’s kind of ridiculous ... I suppose it would help to ask an underclassman to help you in your time of need, but you taking five or 10 minutes” will not make a significant difference in thesis writing, Jiwon Yhee ’09 said. She added that underclassmen have things to do themselves and that if she were a senior it would be faster to run the errands herself.

Reasonable powers

A significant concern among students is whether the program is an appropriate venture.

The description of the program in the College’s e-mail made Jessica De Leon ’08 “uncomfortable.”

“I actually thought it was kind of strange ... I don’t like the idea of making people do things that I should be doing,” she said.

“I really don’t know what I’d get out of it,” Jacob Denz ’10, a Rocky resident, agreed. “I guess it’s cool to meet a senior ... [But] there’s something weird about it. Of course there are traditions [like this], but they’re not officially sponsored,” he explained, referring similar buddy systems practiced in such organizations as fraternities and sororities.

Harrison Schaen ’08, a Whitman resident, agreed that the tasks sound like those undertaken by “pledges” of Greek organizations.

Whitman College residential graduate student Steven Lauritano ’05 GS said, however, “What distinguishes the Whitman program is the fact that it is strictly voluntary and it attempts to match buddies with thesis students in their own department.” This, he hopes, will “give [underclassmen] some insight into the kind of work involved in a thesis.”

“We aren’t particularly worried about abuses in the buddy system. We’ve laid out what kinds of help are appropriate, and what kinds are not,” Crittenden said. Unacceptable tasks would be, according to the College Office, attending lecture in place of a senior, cleaning their room or doing their homework.

Still, some seniors may be enticed by an extra hand during the final weeks of their thesis-writing. “I definitely could use someone to go out to Hoagie Haven while I’m stuck in the basement of the library,” Schaen said.

Evolution of the system

Lauritano, who is helping the College Office organize the program, says the idea for the program grew out of his experiences as a Princeton undergraduate.

“I tried to help out my friends when they were making the final thesis push by bringing them an occasional snack or volunteering to proofread a chapter. My friends did the same thing for me when I was writing my thesis,” Lauritano said in an e-mail.

The College is working to expand the buddy system model that is in place in some University departments to have the potential to support all the seniors in the college.

“The Architecture School has a similar and very successful program for Masters Degree design theses. The thesis students assemble a team of helpers to assist in work on drawings and models. The helpers are acknowledged in the final presentation and can expect to have the person they helped return to Princeton and serve on their team when the time comes to do their own final thesis work,” Lauritano said.

 

The Whitman program will be more informal and require less of a time commitment than a system like the one in the architecture school. “As I envision it ... [seniors] can ask their buddy for 3 favors total over the 3 week period,” Lauritano explained, assuming it will take about 10 minutes for each trip to Wawa or Frist, or a bit longer for proofreading.