This week's Focus also includes articles profiling former Soviet Army sergeant Peter Rosenthal '07 and catching up with former RUE students.
Rhonda Sayles '06 has four children between the ages of 9 and 26. When she matriculated at Brown two years ago, her children begged her to join a sorority.
Sayles, who has yet to go Greek, is a student in Brown's Resumed Undergraduate Education program. Formed in 1972, the program was created to encourage students older than age 25 to apply to Brown.
Today, the program has 35 students who are between 25 and 50 years of age. RUE students come to Brown to begin or continue their pursuit of a college degree.
As a result of large age discrepancies within the RUE program, students are allowed to choose their own type of housing. Young students typically choose to live on campus, whereas older students who may be married or have families might not even live in Rhode Island, let alone Providence.
"We once had a student commute from New York City," said Perry Ashley, executive associate dean of the college and dean of the RUE program.
The RUE student body is one of the most diverse groups on campus. Past RUE students have had experience in the military, entertainment industry and corporate banking. A few RUE students have achieved considerable financial success before entering the program but have returned to pursue a degree or new career.
Before coming to Brown, Teresa Tanzi '07, president of the Resumed Undergraduate Student Association, worked a variety of jobs in the restaurant industry, mentored at-risk youth and volunteered for her local public radio station while living with her sister in Utah.
Jeremy Bedine '09 served in the Israeli Army as a paratrooper after leaving the University of Colorado as a sophomore in 1998. He is still on reserve duty.
RUE students offer a diverse perspective in the classroom that stems from their experience and generational difference, students and administrators say.
Drawing from planning and organizing skills he learned while serving in the Israeli military, Bedine finds he has "lots to contribute" to his class SO103: "Organizational Theories of the Public and Private Sectors."
"I need to remind myself to be quiet," he said.
Because some have family and off-campus work commitments, time management can be more of an issue for RUE students than for other undergraduates.
"I've mapped out the next three weeks," Sayles said. Of her four children, her youngest, Evan, is 9. Occasional scheduling conflicts mean that Sayles must bring him to her classes, where he is "amazed by the level of complexity," she said.
"I do homework all weekend," Sayles said. "On exam days, I am up at 4 a.m. to study."
Knowing that the workload for RUE students can be cumbersome, the RUE program is accommodating and flexible. Students can take from one to five classes per semester, Ashley said.
Tanzi is considering taking only one course next semester. Sayles is taking five.
Many RUE students are preoccupied with obligations outside the University and find socializing within the RUE program and with other undergraduates to be a challenge. Age differences also sometimes contribute to the problem.
"When I'm not working, I want to spend time with my wife," Bedine said. "To meet people in class, I feel I need to be more outgoing at times."
One of the Resumed Undergraduate Student Associ-ation's primary goals is to facilitate socializing among RUE students. RUSA sponsors a few social functions during the year and is also working on a RUE advising program similar to the Meiklejohn program.
Some RUE students said their orientation and matriculation experience was challenging and hardly conducive to socializing.
"I got my acceptance letter to Brown and started trying to figure out how to transplant my life to Providence," RUE alum Geoff Gladstone '05 wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "Where would I live? Who would I know? I didn't receive any advice from Brown. The next piece of mail I got from them was a tuition bill."
RUE students participate in the same orientation as all other first-years; there is only one mandatory RUE meeting, which Bedine described as "long and informative."
Both Tanzi and Sayles said they would have liked more social events for RUE students during the orientation.
"Being a very small community presents unique challenges to successfully achieving that end," Tanzi wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "I believe an increase in social events would help the orientation process and provide the sense of community that is so important for both traditional undergrads and RUEs."
Overall though, Sayles found the orientation to be positive and helpful. She added, "It's unrealistic to expect the administration to put together a program that meets everyone's needs and requirements."
"Orientation was very appropriate for RUE students. It wouldn't be possible to schedule all-day, every-day programs," Bedine said. "The University is attentive to our needs and is willing to provide us with the resources we need. Dean Ashley makes the RUE program a priority."
Admittance to the RUE program is extremely competitive. Over 100 applicants apply each year, according to Ashley, and on average, only eight to 10 are admitted.
The low number of admitted students is the product of financial constraints, Ashley said. The RUE program's budget changes each year and has a limited amount of funding available for financial aid. Ashley said that the RUE application is not need-blind because Brown wants to help each admitted student financially.
Besides grades, SATs and Advanced Placement scores, the RUE application asks for six essays and short-answer responses, as well as a phone interview.
Over the past few years, admission to the program has dwindled. Only three students were admitted in all of 2003. In 2004, Brown admitted nine RUE students and graduated 12.
Students and faculty alike said they would like to see RUE continue. "It's a fabulous program that enriches the Brown community," Ashley said.
Citing her love for the program, Tanzi said, "This is the only education that I wanted. That's why I'm so active for RUE students."
