The Office of Undergraduate Admissions this semester offered an altered version of its overnight program for prospective students from underrepresented communities. The program's name was changed; and it was shortened from two nights to one.
The admissions office held Voices of Tufts: The Diversity Experience, known until this year as Telescope, from Oct. 29 to Oct. 30. The program is primarily designed for high school students of color, students from low-income families and those who identify with the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual (LGBT) communities.
Karen Richardson, director of diversity recruitment and associate director of admissions, said that the new name was intended to emphasize the program's goals.
"We wanted to make it a little bit clearer," Richardson said.
Richardson said the program was shortened in order to better fit participating students' schedules.
"Due to timing — it's hard for high school students to miss so much school, and it's hard on our hosts as well — we decided to go back to a one-night overnight and had very positive responses to that," Richardson said.
According to diversity recruitment intern Nicole Krieg, a sophomore, a shorter program limits the amount of structured admission activities for prospective students while still allowing them to experience daily college life.
"[One night] is a good thing because it just gives them a quick snapshot of Tufts, instead of getting quickly bored with activities that would get old after a while," said Krieg, who is also a copy editor for the Daily. "There's only so much that you can do with kids here while there are still classes going on."
Visiting students took part in small group sessions with admissions officers, a new addition to the program, according to Richardson. They also participated in a series of mock classes taught by Tufts professors, an ice cream social and the annual SuperShow, which features performances by student groups.
Freshman Brionna Jimerson, who participated in the Telescope program last year and hosted two students for Voices this year, felt that this year's small sessions offered a more intimate setting than past programs.
"It was a huge group of 100 — however many kids there were — moving like cattle [last year] ... so at least they did something new or tried to fix something," she said.
Jimerson added, though, that the students she hosted did not find the sessions particularly valuable.
"I don't think they really enjoyed it," she said. "The subject matter was OK, but I guess the way that it was presented could have been better."
She also felt that the program's shortened length meant that visitors did not get to fully experience the college life.
"I could tell that I appreciated it more when I had two nights," she said. "You got to really experience more people and sleeping in the dorms."
Sophomore Marie Murphy, a Voices host this year, believed that the revamped program did not engender as strong of a connection between the prospective student and his or her host, or between the prospective student and the general Tufts community, as Telescope had. She participated in the Telescope program as a prospective student.
"When I came, I felt that it was more interactive and I learned more about Tufts from the Telescope program," she said. "The feedback that I got from my prospective student was that they felt that they didn't interact with the Tufts community that much."
Murphy suggested greater coordination between on-campus diversity events and scheduled Voices activities. She cited an example of one such activity — the Latino Poetry Café, which was held at the same time as the Voices-sponsored ice cream social — as an opportunity to coordinate programming.
"If there was more coordination between the different culture houses and the Voices program for scheduling purposes, it would open them up to the diversity at the school rather than … [just] talking about it," Murphy said.
Freshman Lynne Koester, another Voices host this year, said that the onus was on the hosts to show visitors examples of real student activities on campus.
"They were off doing activities a lot of the time, but I made an effort to spend time and form a connection with [my prospective student] so she would feel as comfortable as possible at Tufts," she said.
Richardson encouraged hosts to actively involve themselves in introducing program participants to Tufts. "I think some hosts did take their prospective [students] to other activities, and that's great," Richardson said in a follow-up e-mail. "It gives students who are thinking about Tufts even more exposure to the campus."
