Nearly 250 incoming first-years participated in this year's Third World Transition Program - more than ever have before.
The rise in participants was not the only change in TWTP, a pre-orientation program to familiarize incoming first-years with the campus resources that address issues of race and other aspects of identity. The roles of the students running the program have expanded, according to TWTP coordinators Soyoung Park '09 and Kristin Jordan '09.
For the first time, Minority Peer Counselors and MPC Friends took on the responsibility of developing and facilitating TWTP's workshops, Jordan said.
Chenelle Chin '12 decided to come to TWTP, which began Tuesday Aug. 26 and went until Friday, precisely because she wanted to hear other students' stories and perspectives. TWTP delivered, she said.
"I was moved to tears by MPCs' stories of their experiences," Chin said about the workshop on sexism. "My eyes and my heart have really opened up."
MPCs and MPC Friends also worked over the summer with faculty from the departments of Africana Studies and history, and with Gail Cohee, the director of the Sarah Doyle Women's Center.
Jordan said the inclusion of faculty has built upon the knowledge and experiences of the workshops' facilitators and made clearer the connections between some of the different "-isms" - racism, sexism, heterosexism and homophobia, imperialism and classism.
Previously, the workshops were led by Jamie Washington, president of the Washington Consulting Group of Baltimore, who has worked with TWTP for the past 20 years. Washington, whom Park said was a professional in leading workshops throughout the country, trained the student facilitators this year.
Park said having student facilitators had a positive impact on the workshops' discussions.
"It's easier to open up, be personal, be trusting with a fellow student," she said.
Arianna Ahiagbe '12 said she had attended workshops on similar topics before but thought the facilitators at TWTP knew how to engage the first-year students especially well.
"The safe space that TWTP creates and the ground rules for discussion that the coordinators and facilitators set make the workshops so effective," she said.
Daniel Prada '12 said he found the level of personal information shared "really moving" and even "shocking."
His favorite workshop was the one about heterosexism and homophobia, Prada added, because it dealt with topics infrequently discussed publicly.
The eagerness and ability of the incoming students to learn made the workshops special for Natasha Go '10, an MPC Friend, who said helping the participants move in was one of the best days of her year.
"They just give us so much energy," Go said.
This made the work welcome, despite the long hours - Go said the MPCs and MPC Friends came back to campus on Aug. 20 and 21, and they immediately started putting in 14 to 16 hours a day in preparation for the four-day program.
Lucy Boltz '12 said fun activities, like the Third World Olympics held on Thursday, especially helped the first-years bond.
"People have broken out of their shells," she said, attributing the new friendships to cheers, choreography and other unity-building elements of the Olympics, which divided the students into several teams to play games like relay races on Pembroke Field.
"There's a willingness to learn to build a stronger sense of community," said the director of the Third World Center, Associate Dean Karen McLaurin-Chesson.
She added that increased student involvement and other changes in the program have resulted in happier students and a more enjoyable experience overall, reflected by a more consistent number of first-years attending the activities throughout the program.
Past years had usually seen a small decrease in participants attending events as the program progressed, she said.
The first-year students seemed to agree.
"We're just here to be wacky and have fun," said Cynthia Luu '12.
