What would you do if you were a freshman, had recentlymatriculated at a new university and were told that you had to pickone activity in which to participate at the beginning of yourcollege career and that would be it? That one thing would have tobe the only thing with which you identified for four years? Thatthe people in your group would not be your real friends, butinstead imitators of your perfect crew from high school?
These are just some of the unsubstantiated and ludicrous claimsthat Adam Pulver made in his Sept. 29 column, "On Community."Additionally, he claims that "first years do not know what they'regetting into" when picking activities.
Well, yes, maybe freshmen don't know immediately the timeinvestment required for their chosen activities. One can assume,however, that because these students have been accepted to Tufts,they engaged in multiple time-consuming extracurriculars in highschool, while simultaneously juggling a challenging course load andsometimes upwards of seven hours of mandatory classes per day - notincluding homework. These freshmen were committed enough in highschool to have fantastic time-management skills, to achieveincredible levels of scholarship and - perhaps most importantly -to know when they were overcommitted and pare down their activitylist accordingly.
Maybe for some freshmen this means they will, as Pulver states,"leave with one primary group identification to represent theirfour years here," but it will be a result of individual choice, notTufts activities' recruitment processes. As the director of thefreshman theater show, I've come into contact with perhaps a largercross-section of the class of 2008 than most seniors, and let metake this opportunity to inform upperclassmen that they have gotsome serious competition.
These kids are bright, enthusiastic, energetic, intelligent andincredibly talented. They belong to many different groups andidentify equally with all of them; in fact, most make a concertedeffort to schedule in time, say, with a theatre group, a dancegroup, a sport and a culture group. My cast and crew members alsoidentify with or belong to the rugby team, TDC, TTLGBC, the crewteam, the Museum School, SOC, Tufts Democrats, the Beelzebubs,Ultimate Frisbee, Torn Ticket, the biochemistry major ... and thelist goes on.
As for Pulver's assertion that "one can't be identified as anactive member of the Black community, the 3Ps drama community andthe biology nerd community," there is absolutely nothing true aboutit. I have personally acted in two theatrical productions, held thesocial chair of my sorority and played a sport concurrently.Additionally, I took five classes and maintained a high enough GPAto keep a university scholarship.
Though the author himself may have been unable to serve Tuftsboth as a columnist and a tour guide, I would point to a friend whoguides tours, is a member of the Greek system and plays basketball.Another tour guide is a math major, heads a theatre company, actsin other performance groups and is an officer in her sorority. Infact, I can't think of a single one of my friends who is onlyinvolved in one activity.
Participation in activities is a requirement of many Greekorganizations and encouraged by the system through its practice ofletting freshmen involve themselves in other activities for asemester before rushing, a practice Pulver considers a good ideafor all activities. Putting off rush for a semester is notparticularly common - in fact, at many schools, potential newmembers send in resumes to the houses they think they identify withbefore even setting foot on campus. However, at Tufts, a minimumGPA requirement exists for each member of a Greek house, whichprecludes freshman participation in fall rush, as they do not yethave a transcript. It is not, as the column proclaims, thatfreshmen "can't handle the other adjustments."
While Pulver claims that inclusion in activities will notnecessarily fulfill the desire for community he believes studentsseek, most of these newcomers just want to participate inactivities they previously enjoyed. Chances are, if Joe Someonechose to be on the ski team in high school, it was because he likedskiing, not because he assumed that he would enjoy the company ofeveryone on the team. Maybe in Joe's case that was a nice bonus;maybe not. But he still liked to ski. So he will join the ski teamin college as well.
And if one of the members of the Class of 2008 seeks a sense ofcommunity, she should certainly be able to find it somewhere, be ither hallway, her athletic team, her culture house, her activitiesor the random friends she makes while creating artistic Dewick foodsculptures one day. But that's something she has to search for, notaudition for. And chances are, after a week at school, she'll knowthat.
Besides, the more general interest meetings a freshman attendsand the more groups she becomes a part of, the more people shemeets, and thus her pool of potential friends and community membersgrows rapidly. So let freshmen find their packs themselves. There'ssafety - and often community - in numbers.
Caitlin McGarty is a senior majoring in drama.
