BC students push for mentoring program

Next year, incoming Barnard students may find themselves with an orientation leader, a resident adviser—and a sophomore mentor.

If some Student Government Association members have their way, first-years next fall will be paired up with sophomores in a student-based mentoring system that could complement Barnard President Debora Spar’s vision of community-building student societies. Jung Hee Hyun, BC ’13, Student Government Association first-year class president, said she has been working all year with SGA members—particularly sophomore class president Bo Yun Park, BC ’12—to get the program up and running.

“Park wanted to help first years—she wanted to figure out what was going on. Debora Spar came up with the idea of creating societies for first-years, so we thought having a big sister-like program would be great. Wellesley has it, and a lot of sister schools,” Hyun said.

Park said that she and other supporters of the idea will be submitting the final draft of the proposal detailing the program at the end of next week. Barnard deans will have to approve it, though Park admitted she doesn’t know how long that will take. She does, however, assume that the College is on-board.

“We are in the process of getting final approval, there is still a lot nitty gritty,” she said.

Park and other SGA members have spent the year collaborating with first-year class dean Lisa Hollibaugh, Senior Associate Director for Leadership Development Hayden Greene and the College Activities Office, among other faculty and administrators. The proposed program also garnered student support.

“The SGA sent out a survey to sophomores last semester asking them if they would like to be mentors to first-years if given the chance, and most said yes,” Hyun said.

Currently, the plan is to match up first-years with a sophomore who had lived on the room floor the year before. Park explained that students would have the opportunity to pick new mentors—she proposes a beginning-of-the-year brunch mixer—and that commuters would have mentors too, most likely other commuters. Some kind of board would also oversee the program.
Still, Hyun admitted that they hadn’t worked out all the kinks just yet.

“There are questions about whether or not it would be open to all classes, and whether or not everyone would want to be mentored or be a mentor,” Hyun said.
Sarah Szwed, BC ’13, said she thought the program would be a positive addition to the Barnard student life.

“I had actually thought about this [possible program] when I came into this school, and I went to a boarding school where we had this. It would have been awesome to have this coming into Barnard, because when I got here I did come in feeling a bit helpless and scared,” she said.

She added that she had spoken to other students about it, and they “seemed interested. While we do get an orientation leader when we first get here, that relationship fades past the first week. I’m sure mine does not remember me anymore.”

But some were uncertain about how many students would be willing to participate, and said they had found their resident advisors and orientation leaders to be adequate guides to the school.
“ I don’t think a lot of people would be willing to sign up for this. My RA and my OL were great resources upon coming here,” Kaley Hanenkrat, BC ’11, said. “And in talking to other student groups, I think the people you meet there are better mentors than someone you are randomly paired up with because they have similar interests to you. The odds of hundreds of people successfully matching up with a mentor are slim."

Natasha Cline-Thomas, BC ’12, said she thought the program would ultimately be unhelpful. “I would have not liked [a mentoring program] as a first year because there are lots of ways to find a mentor or sisterhood in general on campus without that program. I feel like a mentor isn’t effective unless they can relate to you.”

“I think a mentor would definitely be a great addition to the many resources here. But I don’t think we can expect everyone to form a long-lasting friendship,” Helen Kilian, BC ’13, said.

Hyun stressed that the program continues to be a priority for the SGA.

“We think this is important for first years,” Hyun said. “We want the students to have access to this.”

amanda.evans@columbiaspectator.com