Fresh Approach to Frosh Adjustment

In its perpetual war against chemically and sexually ignorant freshmen, the Freshman Dean’s Office (FDO) has a new weapon in its arsenal.

This fall, the FDO introduced the Freshman Residential Education (FRED) program, which aims to help first-years acclimate to Harvard, according to the FDO’s website.

Unlike previous education programs, FRED is divided into two parts. The first part—FRED I—is a mandatory series of three sessions on sexual assault, alcohol and drug abuse, and general wellness. Dean of Freshmen Thomas A. Dingman ’67 said that each entryway of freshmen have attended or will attend these sessions together at some point in the first couple months of this academic year.

The second ‘elective’ part of FRED is a series of seminars and workshops that freshmen can attend in order to further discuss the issues raised in the three original seminars and share concerns about adjusting to their first year at college.

Susan B. Marine, director of the Women’s Center, leads the sessions on sexual assault, while the director of alcohol and other drug services, Ryan Travia, conducts the alcohol sessions. Keli Ballinger, the director of the Center for Wellness & Health Communication, leads the third required session in the series.

“The hope is that these programs will allow students to make the best of the resources available to them at Harvard,” Dingman said.

However, Robert E. Tainsh ’10 echoed the sentiments of many of his classmates when he said that while the presentations have been informative, he has not gotten a lot out of them.

“They’ve been a little bit boring and redundant. I happened to know everything that they were saying and I think that the other students did too,” Tainsh said.

However, Loretta Kim ’99, a freshman proctor, said that while the sessions do repeat information that freshmen already know, they are designed to reinforce certain messages.

“It is very different learning the information off-campus in any setting before you get here and then actually being on campus,” she said. “So if you do have an issue, you are not going out cold and speaking with a group you aren’t familiar with. You already know their names and so you feel like you are a part of the loop.”

Dingman said that the second half of FRED would not begin until the end of October, so that the workshops can be tailored to meet the freshmen’s needs.

“We’ve asked the presenters [of the three mandatory sessions] to conduct

evaluations and let us know what kind of interest there is so that we can plan [the electives] accordingly,” he said.

While proctors do not actually participate in FRED I, they do lead the workshops that are a part of FRED II.

However, the success of these workshops is uncertain, as many freshmen, including Tainsh, said that they would not be attending the optional sessions after completing the required component.

“It is challenging to work these into busy schedules,” Kim said. “However, I think the freshmen are absorbing the information and, if nothing else, it is a good time to bond with your entryway because these are some of the few activities that they are participating in together this year.”

—Staff writer Aditi Banga can be reached at abanga@fas.harvard.edu.