Editorial: Expanding pre-orientation

Over the summer, all members of the incoming freshman class receive a letter offering the chance to participate in one of two pre-orientation programs: Outdoor Action or Community Action. Around 60 percent of the incoming class then choose to enroll in OA, while a smaller group of around 150 students choose to sign up for CA. Recently, the University has begun looking into reforming this pre-orientation program, considering ways to encourage all freshmen to arrive on campus early and entertaining the possibility of new pre-orientation activities. As long as they are properly implemented, we encourage the University to pursue these two objectives.

Currently, because the majority of freshmen participate in either OA or CA, and another portion of the incoming class is already on campus for fall athletic preseason, only a minority of students arrive at Princeton on the designated actual move-in day. For this minority, it is hard to escape the notion that everyone else has already made friends. Not every pre-orientation group remains friends for all four years at college. But at the beginning of freshman year, as Christopher Troein ’12 points out, they do present a small network of familiar faces in a new foreign environment and, therefore, serve as a critical element of freshmen’s acclimation to campus. But beyond the connection freshmen make with their peers, pre-orientation also presents the opportunity to forge valuable bonds with upperclassmen. Pre-orientation leaders act as both role models and mentors during the uprooting and confusing period that is freshman week and potentially for the rest of one’s Princeton career. In addition, the informal and uncensored conversations that occur on CA and OA allow freshmen to get a “real” look into Princeton, one that could not possibly be provided through pamphlets or even formalized orientation pro grams.

First, therefore, we urge the University to replace the current opt-in system, under which students must file a separate application to sign up for OA, with an opt-out system, under which students would be signed up by default but would be given the option to withdraw their names. We recognize that incoming students may have legitimate reasons to not attend pre-orientation; furthermore, some may not wish to pay for pre-orientation programs. While we therefore think that Troein’s proposal of a mandatory program would be unwise, an opt-out system avoids both of these obstacles. And by requiring students to “opt out” rather than “opt in,” the University would establish pre-orientation as an integral norm for freshmen rather than a supplemental experience that some choose to participate in.

Second, we think the University should offer an arts-based pre-orientation program as a third alternative to OA and CA. Schools such as Harvard already offer such an option as one of their pre-orientation packages, and we believe Princeton should follow suit. An arts program would give students more choice in determining the content of their pre-orientation week, better providing for the inevitably diverse interests of the incoming class. Ensuring that as many freshmen as possible participate in an activity they enjoy would both increase the number likely to sign up for pre-orientation and the value they derive from it.