Harambee II: Celebrating first years
Away from home for the first time, University students often find their first semester at the University the most difficult.
This is the reason why the Peer Advisor Program began Harambee II for first-year African Americans.
"Any first-year student should feel a sense of success," said Sylvia Terry, director of the Peer Advisor Program and associate dean of African American affairs.
At the event, distinguished African American alumni speak - this year the first years heard from 1992 College graduate Kimberly Bonner, the director of the Center for Intellectual Property in the Digital Environment at the University of Maryland.
Last year, Robert Bland, a 1959 Engineering School graduate, spoke about his experiences as the first African American to graduate with a degree in engineering at the University, and excerpts from his speech were played on local radio stations, Dean Terry said.
African American students with GPAs within certain ranges are also recognized at the event. But Terry maintained that it's a celebration of all first years completing their first semester.
The event is "great because it doesn't pinpoint those with higher GPAs," said first-year College student Chanell Bates.
All students are winners, Bates said.
Resisting the Temptations of a Wahoo
The University's own Tom Ritchie is one of the tempting eligible singles on FOX's latest reality series featuring four unmarried couples and 26 singles amidst the tropical romance of the Caribbean.
The four-part series isolates the four committed couples from their partners, testing their love and faithfulness through their ability to resist the flirtations and buff bodies of the singles. Temptation Island comes in the wake of the reality show craze that started with CBS's hit Survivor.
Ritchie, 28, an Ivy League graduate and a University Darden and Law graduate student, is originally from Richmond.
For more on Ritchie's wild times on the island, watch for an upcoming Life article.
Compiled by Adam Justice and Julie Hofler
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