However, some students question whether a leave will benefit their health, resist postponing their graduation date or feel hesitant to go through the process of readmission upon return. These programs have a greater representation of students of color than the actual student body. Were hoping to try to make an organization sort of like LASO, sort of like ASA, Af-Am, things like that, but for South Asian students, he said. The Abraxas Award is presented annually to the secondary school sending two or more graduates to Bowdoin whose representatives maintain the highest standing during their first year at the College. And being a freshman in your first-year seminar, and its your first time on campus its like how do you deal with that?. I think it would be helpful to delve into more solutions about how we can get people to stay at Bowdoin and be successful while still dealing with whatever issue that caused them to think about taking time off, Colao said. Whitney Soule has been named Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, effective July 1. For me, one of the most rewarding aspects of admissions She is leaving Bowdoin College (which in 1969. Free. Ryan Strange 17, who identifies as black and biracial, noted that students of color have been more vocal about racial issues this year than in the past. Sending them to areas of socioeconomic diversity is a priority. Instead, students of color say that race sometimes influences their academic experiences and their relationships with professors. She's looking forward to taking courses in English, cinema studies, and digital media. President Roger Howell stressed that it was economically imperative that Bowdoin grow its student body to at least 1200 students. Penn's new admissions dean talks goals for tenure, updates to The acceptance rate for the Class of 2022 was 10.3 percent, the lowest ever and a decrease of over three percentage points from last year's rate of 13.6 percent. The steady increase in the cost of college is a factor that works against its ability to provide access to lower-income students. They would join 254 first-year men, making about a one to four ratio of women to men in their class, and about a one to 10 ratio for the College as a whole. Some students also worry that their personal behaviors might unintentionally reinforce or inscribe racial stereotypes at Bowdoin and beyond. She currently serves as the dean of admissions and student aid at Bowdoin College. "Making sure students have access to a wide variety of opportunities is important," Duncan said. But even so, I think that we dont say enough about our alums who are female. The idea that we should look like the countryI think thats unrealistic in that not every student is prepared for Bowdoin and many students from low-income backgrounds are engaged in educational experiences in junior high and high and grammar school which leave them ill-prepared. Free. Later that semester, an Orient article reported on the seven Bowdoin womens sports teams, most of which were organized informally and faced challenges such as having only a few opponentsthe team would play against the Brunswick Womens Recreational Center and Brunswick High School. Many students who spoke with the Orient felt this pressure from their deans as well. Director of Counseling Services Bernie Hershberger, whose office is independent of the deans, said it does not push students to leave against their will. Philadelphia, PA 19104 Although some students find kinship befriending others of their same race or ethnicity, many students of color voiced concerns about racial segregation on campus. $. We expect students to be fully engaged in living in the college., Pacelli shares this position. The incoming group, who come from across the country, "adds to the diversity of the incoming classwhich is already the most diverse in the Colleges history," Dean of Admissions and Student Aid Claudia Marroquin said. There was initially a lack of clarity in what they could offer me, what additional help they could give me and what the policies were, said Retana in a phone interview with the Orient. there's public funding in every state that educates most of our young people," she said. According to an October 2, 1970 Orient article about the Board of Overseers approval of coeducation, the discussion about coeducation happened at the same time as a more urgent conversation about the financial plight of the College. Bowdoin is an educational community, not a therapeutic community, said Foster. It is imperative that maximum flexibility be built into any programs so that the interests of the women students can guide the scope and direction of those programs as they evolve, stated the Commissions report. She plans to move to Maine this summer with her partner, who works remotely in IT, and live in an off-campus apartment. Not since 2016 have more than three senior administrative positions been vacated in a single year. Talking admissions with Whitney Soule | Penn Today I dont talk in my normal slang or in my normal accent at all.. You wouldnt expect a lot of the people we talk about to be women, because its recent. I felt very strongly last semester that there is this notion that if youre not totally healthy then you shouldnt be here, Blanchard said. A November 1, 1974 Orient article called Out of the Kitchen: Females Possess the Key reports on women participating in the interfraternity sports. And I think its an incredibly important value.. In addition to peer-to-peer interactions, race sometimes informs students interactions with faculty. The Daily Pennsylvanian is a student-run nonprofit. Cornell said she spoke to the head of the Athletic Department and his reply was that the coaches are used to the old locker room layout and that she should be careful in case he does it again. Racial divides at College Houses and other campus events lead some students of color to question whether Bowdoins campus is self-segregated. Soule added that often, students lower on the income spectrum are not thinking about and not prepared for elite schools like Bowdoin. In the case of voluntary medical leaves, occasionally a student may enter the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs knowing he or she would like to request a leave. Whitney Soule - Email, Phone - Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid We dont really do half-time status, Lohmann said. Before becoming Penn's Dean of Admissions, Whitney Soule spent 13 years at Bowdoin College. Orlando said the practice is aimed at slowing the growth of departmental budgets and identifying areas of spending that may no longer be priorities. I am sad to see her go but, on the other hand, this is a remarkable opportunity for Whitney, and I am excited for her and grateful for all she has done for Bowdoin and our students. We have a long pasthundreds of yearsand women have been present only for [45] years, said Scanlon. Soule and Rose both emphasized that admissions outreach and recruiting has a big effect on who applies to Bowdoin and is the primary tool the school uses to attract lower income students. However, the team has three other assistant coachesincluding Ruddy, hired in 1976, who now coaches high jump and sprintas well as volunteer coaches. She began her career in college admissions at her alma mater, Bates College, followed by an 11-year tenure at Connecticut College, where she led the implementation of new student information systems, among numerous other initiatives. Last years acceptance rate was just 9.1 percent, and today 33.6 percent of students are students of color and 48.6 percent of students enrolled receive need-based aid. As Bowdoin began matriculating women, it formed the Ad Hoc Committee on Coeducation, as well as many committees and subcommittees for three phases of coeducation. Students will have until May 3 to declare their enrollment, a two-day extension from the traditional May 1 deadline. Santizo, who grew up in Los Angeles, noticed these demographics as she prepared to move in last fall. She says this gets prospective students who are lower on the income spectrum in the room with a more diverse range of applications and helps them see themselves in the context of a more diverse Bowdoin rather than the more limited applicant pool that might show up to an information session at any given school. The 1971 annual report of the Committee on Athletics budgeted $9,000 to providing private showers and facilities for a womens locker room. Soule also said that the need-blind process actually does create socioeconomically diverse classes. The experiences of students of color at Bowdoin are varied and diverse, and cannot be explained by any statistic. A February 1972 Orient poll prompted students to indicate if they preferred for Bowdoin to be an exclusively mens college; be a mens college accepting women as transfers; continue with the present schedule for coeducation; or progress to fully coeducational (50 percent women). This report cited a desire to increase the size of the College from 900 men to 1200 or 1500 students so that it could compete with other liberal arts schools and offer a wider variety of courses. Soule leaves Bowdoin after a 13-year tenure in the admissions office, five of them as Dean of Admissions. I am a student in your class [who] is clearly being affected by everything thats going on, added Raquel Santizo 19, who identifies as Latin American, more specifically Peruvian. Tuition and Aid for 202122 Academic Year, Alien Minds, Immaculate Bullshit, Outstanding Questions. Megan Retana 19, who is currently on a medical leave, echoed Goldsmith. These numbers raise significant questions about the effectiveness of the Colleges need-blind admissions policy (which has been in place for over 15 years) in actively creating socioeconomically diverse classes. A November 11 Orient article reports that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) found a decreasing gap in the salaries of male and female head coaches throughout the league, although that gap still exists. Austin Goldsmith 18 was two weeks into her first year at Bowdoin when she got her first concussion during a volleyball game. She began her college journey in her late thirties at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota. You can contact Penn Admissions at:info@admissions.upenn.edu, 122 College Hall It dawned upon me as I approached the hookup culture and as I approached the party scene here that Ihowever much as I could identify as an AmericanI still couldnt completely fit in or I still couldnt completely be seen as strictly the same, he said. Penn appoints Bowdoin College's Whitney Soule as its next dean of In that fall of 1971, 65 women would enter into Bowdoin as first years. Four years ago, the first Geoffrey Canada Scholars arrived at Bowdoin. And it happens in the classroom too, I notice. In fact, months before the first four-year female students arrived on campus, the first woman, Sue Jacobson 71, graduated from Bowdoin after transferring from Connecticut College. education are inextricably linked.. If I feel that students are limping along and compromising their success merely for the sake of being here, then really I want [the student] to be able to perform at the level [the student is] capable of.. "I am worth educating. Following a hospitalization for mental health reasons in the spring of her first year, Retana agreed to take off the rest of the semester and this current fall semester per the evaluation of the Counseling Center and her dean. She then worked at Connecticut College for 11 years, directing transfer admissions and overseeing admissions information and systems, before moving to Bowdoin in 2008 and eventually becoming senior vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid in 2016. We had to go out and be ambassadors on behalf of all the other women.. She also joined with colleagues to All students now can transfer credits from associate degree colleges, whereas it was an exception before. Scanlon saidthe change at Bowdoin is exciting and should make the community proud. The College has made real steps over this period, such as eliminating loans as an aspect of financial aid packages in 2008 under former President Barry Mills and dropping the application fee for first-generation and financial aid-seeking applicants in 2016. "When do that, you discover things you may have overlooked in the past.". At Bowdoin, Soule added an optional video response to the application to provide additional insight into each applicant and their experiences. Moreover, how does Bowdoin support a student whose health concerns cannot necessarily be solved with a medical leave? That same year, THRIVE was formed, bringing these scholars under the same umbrella with four other mentoring and scholarship programs. People of color stood on one side and then there were all white people on the outside and it was just so interesting to me. She has also continued to advocate for the use of test-optional admission practices, which have been in place at Bowdoin since 1969, to make the admissions process more accessible to underrepresented populations. Bowdoins Athletic Department was more prepared for the arrival of women than some other areas of the college, such as health services. Women were also welcome to play in the interfraternity White Key teams. Associate Registrar Julie Grossi also evaluates which of Bowdoin's distribution or division requirements are met with previous coursework. By KyleMoeller • February 12, 2021. Hong added that campus conversations make her more aware of racial issues in the outside world. Editorial | Penn's new admissions dean must prioritize socioeconomic President Clayton Rose confirmed this mission and his desire to build more socioeconomic diversity, but argued that maintaining a roughly steady level of financialaid recipients itself has taken work. It was in the air, said Interim Dean for Academic Affairs Jen Scanlon, whose 2011 gender and womens studies class created a website to commemorate 40 years of coeducation.