Discussion with New Students

Katie D.

September 22, 2011 - 8:02 PM

First year students are arriving on campus! The university is crowded with freshmen and their parents, anxiously moving into new dorms and purchasing Duck gear. It's an exciting time to be around the campus: I love to think about these new UO students, and what this year will mean for them. I remember how scared and excited I was my first week, and how quickly I met people and made friends. I also remember getting involved with campus activities almost immediately, trying to take advantage of all the great resources all at once.

Yesterday I had an amazing experience with this group of new ducks. I met a group of Honors College freshman and one Freshman Interest Group (a group of students who take fall classes as a group and live together in the dorms). These students were assigned Sister Helen Prejean's book The Death of Innocents as a summer reading book. Sister Helen is returning to campus in mid-October, and their summer reading was intended to get the incoming class excited about Sister Helen and about social justice efforts at the UO.

In June, I was asked to lead a discussion of this book. I was lined up to discuss Inside-Out, student activism, and Sister Helen's visit and work. Yesterday was the big day of the discussion. I was prepared to do an hour-long presentation, to ask any questions folks might have, and then to split the group into smaller book discussion sections. I hoped we would have an audience of thirty or so freshmen.

One hundred and twenty showed up.

This incoming class is amazing. Not only did they show up, but they had great questions. They had read the book, and were truly engaged by the story and the issues that emerge in Sister Helen's work. They wanted to know about Inside-Out, and about how my participation in prison classrooms has changed my opinions about incarceration in general and the death penalty in particular. They not only had questions, they had follow-up questions.

As a final indication of how great this group really is, they laughed. They thought I was funny. I'm a pretty good public speaker, but I have no illusions about my humor. I am not particularly funny. What they were really indicating is that they were truly present. They were willing to spend their first days on campus engaging in the difficult and depressing questions of justice and punishment. They were anxious to look beyond the face value of issues, and to get to the heart of the contradictions in our system, and the complexities of administering justice. These freshmen are ready to dive into the college experience, and to launch into these four years.

I feel so lucky to have already met these young men and women. I feel inspired by their enthusiasm and their curiosity. I also was made hopeful by their willingness to feel hope, even in the face of these gritty issues.

These positive emotions are a great indication of what this next generation of UO students will be able to do. Even in the face of the terrible emotional question of Troy Anthony Davis' execution (which was carried out just a few hours after our discussion ended), the group was willing to engage, but did not have an atmosphere of despair.

This is the best of the UO's culture. We are present with the complexities of the world. We're in a community of difficult questions and innovative solutions.

I haven't been this excited for the start of a school year since I was a freshman. I'm with this new class of Ducks. Bring on the year!