Editorial: Unfair favoritism toward first-year students

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When the University of Maine announced first-year students would be segregated to two quads on the North side of campus, with the exception of honors students, most students were unimpressed.

When the new Student Fitness and Recreation Center opened its doors, students were pleased as punch, although most upperclassmen were quick to notice the center was located closest to the first-year dorms. When budget cuts caused dining services to scale back on hours of operation for dining commons, students tried to be understanding – but why is Hilltop Commons, the dining commons located closest to the first-year residence halls, the only one open all weekend?

UMaine may offer logical excuses for why all of these things seem to benefit first-year students: available property for construction, spacing distance, etc. But chances are, upperclassmen will still point out what is apparent: The university is favoring first-year students. This may be because it is concerned about first-year student retention. Administration wants their students to stay students of this university.

But what about those students the university has already retained? What about those students who have made a commitment to finish out their education at UMaine, forsaking all other institutions of higher education? What favors do upperclassmen receive?

The university seems to be saying to first-year students, “See all the wonderful things we give you? Won’t you stay with us?” And those who have made it through their first two semesters are hearing “Thank you for staying with us; as a reward, we’ll give you a further walk to the gym and food and less housing.”

It’s a good idea to help first-year students adjust to the college experience, but it should not be done at the expense of neglecting or disfavoring those students who have stayed beyond the first-year mark. UMaine should show more positive attention to the success stories that are the upperclassmen.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009, 1:04 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.