Tenley residents respond
Dear Editor,
In an editorial from Nov.16, the headline reads, "Tenley Campus residents are AU students, too." My reply to this is, really? I find this rather ironic as students in the Washington Semester Program were denied the privilege of attending a trip to New York City as they were told they were not American University students.
The last sentence in that article that I have to question is: "Students consistently say that Tenley Caf? is better than TDR." Again: really? I travel to main campus to eat at TDR. First, the customer service at the Tenley Caf? leaves much to be desired. Because they have no clean trays when students walk in, we are then reprimanded upon our departure for not having our dishes on trays. Secondly, how many times have students wanted coffee, but were forced to put them in plastic cups because there were no clean coffee mugs? Let's talk about quality and variety of food. TDR offers a variety of food selections, a dessert bar where they actually scoop the ice cream for you and a mini-grill for your sandwiches! Please remind me why Tenley Caf? is better.
Adrienne Richards
Senior, Wilkes University, and Washington Semester Student
Dear Editor,
I would like to comment on how horrible the entire Washington Mentorship Program feels about your Tenley article. I was quoted in that article and I have no problem with it, but when the quote by Michael Haidet was used, I found it extremely offensive. That quote doesn't reflect the views of the people on main campus about Tenley and the people in the program.
We are not "second class" citizens of American University like many may portray us as. We have equal grades and equal test scores as the students on main campus. Do any of these people have to work 9-5 internships (for no money I might add) and still have to come back for night classes two days a week? Do these people know what it is like to work for senators, the Department of Justice and ambassadors? No, they don't.
The truth is that they have it easy compared to us. I personally work for the Bomb Squad in Montgomery County, Md., and I can tell you that through that I am gaining much more experience in a field that I plan on going into than anyone over on main.
Trevor McVeigh
Washington Mentorship Program Student and Freshman in CAS
Dear Editor,
As a current Washington Mentorship Student, I am happy that finally the AU community is acknowledging us, but incredibly disappointed with your "main campus" perspective. Your quote from freshman Michael Haidet proves just how little the student body actually understands about our program. We were all accepted for the spring 2007 semester, so we obviously don't need the program to be admitted. It was simply an option as opposed to beginning our freshman year at another school and transferring in January.
Despite my lack of qualification for financial aid and living in Federal Hall as opposed to Letts or McDowell, I still consider myself an American University student. You may have seen any of the 101 of us because we're in your classes, eating at TDR, using the gym, using the library and are at the same frats like every other University freshman.
Overall, I'm really enjoying my time here on Tenley, but I welcome the change to main campus come January. So until then, when you walk past Tenley on your way to the Metro, give us a wave; we're actually pretty nice.
Jessica McGarry
Washington Mentorship Program Student and Freshman in SOC
Dear Editor,
I was extremely disappointed with the article concerning the Washington Mentorship Program. If people on main campus truly believe that we are "not of the same standard," then there must not be enough understanding of the WMP on main campus. At the end of the day, we on Tenley were all admitted to American University, just like the freshmen on main. If there is any reason why we were chosen for the program, then inferiority as applicants must not have been one of them.
Many of the people in the program have done things most people our age could only dream of. If you want an example, just read section D of the Oct. 24 USA Today. There you will notice a picture of Washington Mentorship Program student Alex Wells. The corresponding article highlights many of Wells' accomplishments, including organizing a protest over the genocide in Sudan that raised $13,000. Just how many people get an entire article dedicated to them in a local newspaper, much less USA Today?
Accomplishments like Wells' are not uncommon here on Tenley. I only hope that people on main campus realize that the students in the WMP are just as deserving of attending AU as they are.
Voltaire Cortez
Washington Mentorship Program Student and Freshman in SPA
Perhaps you haven't met us, or talked to us, or gotten to know a single one of us, before making the judgment that we here on Tenley are second-class students.
Many of us feel that we are isolated from main campus. This, of course, is natural, as Tenley campus is a five-minute bus ride from the rest of our school's wonderful facilities - facilities we rarely get the opportunity to enjoy. We lead busy lives, with hectic schedules, just as the rest of you do, and they are further complicated with our bi-weekly ventures into the real world, where we gain practical experience about the workings of the nation's capital. I feel like our outgoing and overtly positive nature is ill-received on main campus, and the camaraderie we have with one another is often met with the alienation and exclusion known to permeate the school.
I am disappointed to see this opinion solidified into words in our campus newspaper, and I am even more disappointed to think how many others share the same opinion.
Brock Heubusch
Washington Mentorship Program Student and Freshman in SIS
While there are many advantages to the Washington Mentorship Program there are disadvantages and stigmas. As the article noted, those in the program are full time non-matriculating students, the key phrase being "non-matriculating." That means financial aid cannot be applied to this program, which when I was accepted into it, was equal to the cost of a regular AU semester: $15,000-something for tuition and of course additional costs for housing and dining, etc. Paying full cost for college is an issue for most students and may not be the wisest financial decision.
And though I agree that it's a better option than spending a semester at home working a low-paying job, there are even better options out there. I spent the fall of what would have been my first semester as a freshman in Vietnam interning for the Institute of International Education. I built great relations with those in the consulate and gained an experience that helped guide me in knowing what I wanted to get out of the IR program here at AU.
While the Washington Mentorship Program is a great alternative that no other universities have, that does not mean that its students, or those that could have been students, are in any way less. In my spring semester orientation last year, the fellow students I met who were not accepted until spring spent time traveling, interning, taking courses, and working respectable jobs (there are some out there). These experiences may enhance their perspective of the world and diversify the campus. They did not necessarily need a program to uplift them to AU standards.
Lynn Nguyen
Past Washington Mentorship Program Student and Sophomore in SIS
