In a time where we have all been asked to balance safety and socializing, perhaps no one has felt the strain of this task more than the University’s freshmen.

In collaboration with a number of other Washington University organizations, the First Year Center has used a feedback-driven approach to redesign the Bear Beginnings program for the 2020-2021 academic year.

The class of 2023 had mixed reactions to the new nine-day Bear Beginnings orientation.

Washington University has created a new scheduling app, called “WashUEvents,” for this year’s Bear Beginnings, a program that introduces incoming freshmen to campus life, University expectations and some of their 1,878 new classmates.

In an attempt to modernize the orientation process and eliminate the need to distribute pamphlets, the First Year Center (FYC) introduced an app designed to help freshmen navigate through Bear Beginnings.

On the site of the former Rubelmann Hall, a new building is being constructed—but it’s not a new Ruby. The building will be an extension of the already-standing Umrath House, and will share Umrath’s name. Administrators hope that connecting the buildings will help freshmen living in the Residential College interact more.

Little did I know, when I chose to participate in the “World of Politics” Pre-Orientation program, how much that experience would improve my experience as a freshman. Unfortunately, due to the new 20-participant rule put in place by the First Year Center, future freshmen may not have the same opportunity as I did.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: You can imagine my surprise when I heard that my Bear Beginnings, my foundation for a successful collegiate experience, is threatened by the First Year Center, which announced last week that any pre-orientation program with fewer than 20 students enrolled by June 15 would be cancelled.

In an announcement to student pre-orientation leaders, the First Year Center made it known that for the upcoming year they plan to cut any pre-orientation program that does not have 20 students signed up by June 15, 2016. We at Student Life can’t help but wonder why the FYC is going to such great lengths to limit student experience, something that the center supposedly champions.

In today’s news section, you will find a story entitled “FYC makes plan to cancel small pre-o programs.” It should be noted that Student Life has been running a small pre-orientation program known as Freshman Press for around 20 years, and therefore, there is not a single member of our editorial staff who does not feel strongly about the implications of the First Year Center’s decision.