Duncan, McMurtry O-Weeks well arranged, but hurried

By Staff Editorial     1/22/09 6:00pm

The freshmen coming in next year at Duncan and McMurtry colleges will be in the unique positions of defining their colleges' identities, traditions, and unique nomenclatures. And according to the plans, they will have some help, as Baker and Will Rice colleges will be having separate yet collaborative orientation weeks with Duncan and McMurtry, respectively. (see story, page 1).The plan in and of itself - with O-Weeks maintaining their separate identities amidst an atmosphere that will foment Rice's two newest colleges - is admirable, if not entirely perfect. We respect the administration's desire to avoid the situation that arose with the inception of the most recent college, Martel, which was populated almost entirely with those who didn't mesh in the other eight colleges' lives. This stew of anxiety and awkwardness did not foster an ideal situation, and while Martel has since come into its own, its beginnings were impeded of lack of planning.

Invitation-only transfer process, coupled with and entirely new freshman class, is better than the previous maneuvering. Likewise, landing ambassadors from the Original Nine at the New Two will help engender a camaraderie and necessary relationship between the entire collegiate living.

But when we said it wasn't perfect, there was a reason. The administration, we fear, does not realize just how rushed the entire O-Week process is. Seeing as the O-Week coordinator selections happen later this month, it would seem that those who are heading toward Duncan and McMurtry as coordinators, chosen from the rejects pile, would be behind the ball. A snowball effect will occur, and as we know very well at the Thresher, when one thing is held up, the entire process stalls.

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All in all, the release of O-Week protocol at the new colleges seems a bit pressed. There was legitimate reason, at least, as the South Colleges renovations were only finalized recently. Still, the administration could have a contingency plan for this kind of things. Instead, the college commons might not be the only things not sufficiently completed by the time the Duncaners or McMurtles matriculate.

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