Thursday, February 4, 1993
Preview
A chance for minority students to adapt to Behren.
by Danette Parrett
Features Editor
Each year countless hours are
put into a program that much of
Behrend's campus knows little
about. Preview Week is a
program that is designed to help
the transition of minority
students to the Erie community
and, more specifically, Behrend.
Preview Week was founded in
1989 by Biddy Brooks and P.J.
Brown. They developed the
program on the basis of the needs
and experiences shared by
previous minority students.
Gerald Spates, the Minority
Advisor and Special Programs
Counselor, now heads Preview.
Spates works all summer
developing the programs that
Preview Week will entail.
Preview is held one week prior to
Freshman Orientation.
Spates focuses the program on
the college adjustment
"We are looking at the
geographical locations that our
students are coming from. A lot
of them are coming from urban
areas and the inner city. To come
to a place like Erie, and then to
Behrend, is to them like going
to the boonies. We bring
minorities here to help them get
acclimated to Erie and Behrend.
We look long-term to help their
adjustments and bring them to
like this place."
Jamele Adams, a fifth semester
Psychology/Pre Law major, feels
that Preview "made my transition
from a large, busy city to a rural,
slow-paced area smoother.
It made me want to educate
white students more about
minorities and what it is like to
be black."
The main objectives developed
in 1989 remain the same today.
Preview Week puts its major
emphasis on:
--Becoming acquainted with and
developing a sense of community
with other minority students.
--Critical thinking and study
skills assessments.
--Skill building for college
adjustment and lifelong learning.
--Field trips to Greater Erie.
--Introduction to University
policies and procedures.
--Testing and freshman advising
(if needed).
--Fun and relaxation.
Spates notes that "the only
change is that we have eliminated
activities that aren't as helpful to
students, and we've added new
programs."
The basics of the week cover
introducing study skills,
exposing them to certain
departments, and exploring issues
like racism and other major
issues the students might face.
with
"It is not to make students
aware that racism exists here.
We are working students, putting
them through scenarios, teaching
them and talking to them. We
don't want students to come here
and automatically assume that
racism is going to occur.
If an instructor says something
to them that seems racially
motivated, unless it is very
direct, we want to assure the
students that the professor would
do or say the same thing to
anyone. We don't want them to
be paranoid."
The only plans Spates has for
renovating the program is to
include all students, minority and
white.
"We have an interesting student
makeup. We have a large
amount of students who come
from areas where they are not
exposed to different kinds of
people. I think a program like
Preview could really benefit
everyone if it was expanded." '
There are two things that hold
Spates back from including all
freshman students. First, there
are not funds available.
Secondly, Preview comes strictly
from his office, and
encompassing the entire freshman
class would be too much work
for just one office to handle.
One new program that was
developed was that of Preview
Peers. Peers are older minority
students that act as guides and
helpers to the students during
Preview.
Catherine Kunkel, a 4th
semester history major, acted as a
Features
Week- a big program
little recognition
peer for Preview Week. She feels
that Preview Week has a positive
effect on the students.
"It helps the students understand
financial aid and their
relationships with professors.
They get to know Dean Lilley.
They get to put a name with the
face. It also helps them to adjust
not being with a family
anymore."
Acting as a peer counselor, she
feels that "with having my first
semester's experiences, I could
use them to help [the students] to
adjust. I could give them advice
in similar situations, according to
Tim
isor and Special Programs Couns
what I had gone through."
As of now, all the peers are
minority students, but next year
Spates hopes to invite some
white students to be peers as
well.
"Right now, the only contact
the students have [during
Preview] is a session with the
RA's. I want more of that. I
want to get more students
involved. With the RA's, I want
young students to know that if
their RA is of a different color,
they will be given the same
treatment."
Spates hopes to convince
students that this same attitude in
all aspects.
"Sometimes I have students
come in and say that they think
people are picking on them
because they are black or
Hispanic. I try to make the
students look at the situation
objectively. I help them find a
better way to approach the
situation."
Preview is funded with a
proposal through the Educational
Opportunity Program Committee
(EOPC). Spates notes that he
receives a great deal of help.
"We get a lot of support for
Preview Week. The budget I
submitted had its funds doubled."
Spates attributes his support to
the fact that the program helps to
retain students in the Penn State
system. After tracking the
program since its existence, over
60 percent of the students that
were in the program have
continued their studies at either
Behrend or University Park.
Adams feels that after Preview
he realized "what opportunities
Behrend had to take a hold of and
how much fun you could have
doing it."
He also said,"[Preview] let me
see where I could implement
programs, like Sweet Daddy's
World, that would educate the
students."
"I think after awhile the
students usually feel pretty good
about being at a place like this.
Our students know that not all
the other students are open
minded or tolerant of differences,
even some of the minority
students, but we want to help
them to bridge the gap.
"We want students not to
assume that certain comments are
not racially motivated. I
understand in the Collegian office
there was a misunderstanding.
Someone said the word 'colored.'
Some people don't know we don't
use 'colored' anymore. We use
African-American or black. That
Page
is an opportunity to educate, and
be educated as well."
Another program generated from
Spates's office is Buddy Weekend.
This program is targeted towards
academically talented high school
students. It is a seven year-old
program that was directed out of
University Park. Now, several
branch campuses have adopted the
program also. Most of the
students who attended this
weekend say it was the deciding
factor that helped them to decide
to stay.
Spates is in the planning stages
of a mentor program. It entails
matching freshman students with
faculty members or
upperclassmen.
"I would like to develop this
type of 'big brother/big sister'
program where you can connect a
freshman with an upperclass role
model. There are a large portion
of faculty and staff that share my
opinion."
Spates has also developed a new
program that is exclusively for
Behrend. It is for minorities and
women interested in Behrend
majors, more specifically, science
and engineering.
"We are trying to get more
minorities, especially white
women, to go into those
primarily male dominated fields"
Spates concentrates the majority
of his efforts in programming for
the student body, but he also
holds other responsibilities.
"I serve as an advisor to the
minority students and a few
international students. I am the
person who advocates programs
and activities that will insure
their retention here."
Spates facilitated a Black
Studies 100 class last spring. He
feels the students gain new ideas
from diversity courses.
"Some students automatically
think in the diversity classes that
they have to learn about black
culture. [ln these classes) we talk
about different cultures, religions,
women, etc. I'm not sure how I
feel about making it a
requirement. I don't think we
have enough of a choice to offer
students."
Spates also oversees disability
services and the veterans affairs.
With all these ideas, Spates still
sees opportunities for more
programs, but he doesn't have the
time to take on any new
endeavors.
"I'm usually afraid to suggest
new things because I am so
overloaded. I can't handle
anything new, but I would like to
see more new programs on this
campus."