Pre-orientation program now features community service
Students in the 2004 SPOT program hike in the Sierra Nevada as part of a five-day bonding trip.
From left: Lindsay Schauer, Robert DeSpain, Kendall Madden and Ryan Mead, former SPOT participants.
BY RAY DELGADO
The Stanford experience begins this week in a unique and enriching way for dozens of new students who have chosen to cut their summer breaks short by five days for some college bonding.
More than 80 students will report to campus today to embark on one of several outdoor orientation or community service programs organized through the Stanford Pre-Orientation Trips (SPOT) program offered by the Freshman Dean's Office. Created in 2003 as a wilderness outreach program to help a small group of transfer students get acclimated to the university, the program expanded last year to include 25 freshmen from the East Coast.
The expansion continues this year with nearly 50 percent more students enrolled and the creation of three new community service trips offered as an alternative to the seven Sierra Nevada wilderness adventures: a homeless and poverty excursion, a program focused on the foster care system and a program that will expose students to various multifaith approaches to community service.
"Word of mouth has certainly gotten out about the SPOT program, and the success has been in the students who have participated in it and sung its praises," said Jared Scherer, director of new student orientation. "Students are anxious to find a group to connect with at Stanford and to challenge themselves personally. They're also really excited to come to campus early and find a smaller community within their freshman class."
The students who are participating in this year's program depart campus Thursday for five days and return the day before the New Student Orientation program begins. The cost of enrollment is $375 and may be offset by as much as $100 with financial aid. The program purposely tries to avoid too much cheerleading about Stanford, which orientation handles so capably, and instead emphasizes personal reflection, team building, group activities and leadership development.
Scherer said the program may one day be expanded so that it is offered to all freshmen, but for now officials are trying for a slow roll-out for transfer students and freshmen from the East Coast who may feel the most apprehension about arriving at the Farm.
Megan Hansen, an incoming sophomore from Wellesley, Mass., participated in one of the wilderness programs offered last year because she said she was a bit anxious that she didn't know anyone else who was attending Stanford.
"I was coming out knowing absolutely no one, and it was more important for me to have a few people that I knew," Hansen said. "I had an amazing experience and made some great friends. It made me feel a little more connected to Stanford, but mostly I felt connected to the people."
Although the wilderness program is still the most popular one offered, organizers heard some feedback from prospective applicants wishing there were other types of programs offered because they didn't like to camp. In order to meet the demands of the non-campers while still expanding the program for this year, organizers teamed up with the Haas Center for Public Service to duplicate its successful "Alternative Spring Break" program.
"This year we were excited to try to branch out from the wilderness trips to offer an alternative outing for students who may not be interested in the outdoor program," Scherer said. "We thought it was good to partner with the Haas Center and find ways in which we could get other students involved."
The three community service programs offered this year are all modeled after excursions that were organized for students over the past spring break. The students who participate in the community service programs will be housed at churches, hostels and community centers.
Aarti Rao, an incoming junior, participated in the multifaith community service program over spring break and was asked to co-lead the program for SPOT this summer. Many of the same program elements will be repeated, Rao said, including a stop at a publishing house in Berkeley that publishes and binds ancient Buddhist texts that are then distributed in Tibet. Students also will visit a Sikh open kitchen to help distribute food to the needy and visit a synagogue that provides services to the homeless.
"The projects that we do are going to bring these incoming freshmen closer together because they'll be working closely with other communities," Rao said. "I think that Stanford has a really huge social entrepreneurial spirit, and they'll get the flavor for that."