WITH THE summer well under way, I can't help but think back to the summer before my first year. Amid all the nervousness and excitement a few things get lost, namely students' volunteer efforts. Campus leaders, Greeters, and first-year orientation participants devote countless hours to ease the transition of eager high school graduates into seasoned University students. The University expects these students to volunteer in setting up its orientation policies without fully taking account of their needs.
The ideas of the Honor code, University Judiciary Committee and various other internal University workings are second-nature to most of us. But, coming in fresh from high school and faced with a deluge of information, it can be difficult to pick this up. Luckily, student leaders in each of these organizations gladly give their time to help educate rising first-years. I distinctly remember dedicated members of Honor and UJC giving presentations explaining the rules we would be expected to follow for the next four years. While it may have been a bit tedious for the incoming students, think about having to spend hours of your summer to educate kids (and parents) about the standards of conduct at the University.
But the student leaders turned summer volunteers don't end with UJC and Honor. The respective presidents of the Inter-Fraternity and Inter-Sorority Councils donate portions of their summer to keep incoming students (and parents) aware of how Greek Life is a part of the University community. While these activities present an oft-forgotten intersection of volunteerism and student self-governance, they also necessitate student leaders to spend significant portions of their summer in the Charlottesville area. While the Office of New Students Programs within the Office of the Dean of Students does give these leaders a small stipend and a place to stay, it "does not pay them or [pay] their living expenses," according to Sarah Vonhedemann. Furthermore, this precludes the opportunity to pursue educational and career-enhancing summer internships which are often essential for landing a job after college.
While the aforementioned volunteer work is important, it is only done by a very small proportion of the University student body. The Greeters program, on the other hand, includes hundreds of Wahoos from all years. According to the University Programs Council website, "Greeters are student volunteers who help first-years and family members during Move-In Day." They toil in the heat for hours carrying heavy boxes for people they have just met for nothing save a tacky t-shirt and a sandwich in return. Greeters also gladly give advice and directions to overwhelmed students and parents with the added benefit of introducing first-years to UPC. While Greeters do get to move in to university housing a day earlier, given the level of work and three hour time commitment (with some shifts starting at 9 in the morning), it is difficult to call Greeters anything except dedicated volunteers. It is these volunteer efforts that the University has come to rely on in lieu of an actual staff for incoming students on Move-In Day.
The third and final group of underappreciated volunteers is first-year orientation participants, specifically the CIO Ground for Discussion. Most people probably think of the skits from their opening days at the University as corny or even dull but, forgiving some of the forced "diversity" and race relations training (or perhaps savings them for a later column), they are informative and take a great deal of time and effort to put on. The skits generally do justice to everyday life on Grounds and can give a good idea of problems to come ranging from roommate disagreements to eating disorders. Writing a script, memorizing lines, and setting up a choreography are no easy tasks -- particularly when the final product must be ready for the very beginning of the school year. While Vonhedemann stated that the Office of the Dean of Students does help "coordinate" these activities, it again finds itself dependant on student volunteers to make things happen. The complete dependence on CIOs and student volunteers makes one wonder why there is an Office of Orientation and New Students Programs at all.
Getting oriented and settled at the University takes more than a few ice-breaking games. Hundreds of University students work hard every summer and fall to ensure that this happens so that incoming first-years can enjoy a smooth transition from high school to college. Student leaders sacrifice hours of their summer to give presentations, Greeters do manual labor for hours, and orientation participants prepare for and perform informative sketches before thousands of students. Let's take a moment to appreciate this ethic of volunteerism that is so prevalent here at the University and hope that, one day, the administration learns to appreciate it too.
Josh Levy is a Cavalier Daily Opinion columnist. He can be reached at jlevy@cavalierdaily.com.
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