Initial visions and connections (for 2/27)

By Tuesday evening (2/26), post a comment below of 100-200 words that introduces a specific vision or aspect of a vision for UR that you are most excited about, and then write about how that idea/vision is connected to some of the specific things other people have said in class thus far. This is an attempt to replicate the conversation we had in class on 2/20 about the Student Health cluster (see pic below).

13 Responses to "Initial visions and connections (for 2/27)"

Suzannah Faulkner says:

February 23, 2019 at 12:42 pm

I am most excited about looking into the financial aid process and the school’s budget in order to see where the University could fill in the gaps left by FASFA. The current financial aid process at Richmond has created a gap between students resulting in two extremes where the middle class is missing. This has caused social issues to emerge where those without a lot of money feel excluded. For instance, not all students have the same wardrobe, have cars on campus, can pay to join a sorority/fraternity etc. Additionally, the gap has caused a great deal of stress for students who have to balance working and a heavy course load. This stress is not sufficiently met by the student health services offered by the school.
Maiana Russell says:

February 25, 2019 at 3:19 pm

The aspect that interests me most is mental health. I want to attempt to analyze how and why so many students on campus face mental health problems to the point a large population of the student body goes to CAPS. I believe this connects to many other aspects such as finances, lack of support from the school, the lack of idleness in students day to day routine, and the pressures exerted on students by the school, parents and the society we live in. I feel like CAPS is just a band-aid solution to many deeper problems that must be addressed first to reduce the mental health crisis students are facing.
Casey Friedman says:

February 26, 2019 at 3:49 pm

The vision I am excited for is a completely redesigned CAPS service doesn’t just provide counseling. Ideally, CAPS would provide constructive activities for men since I see isolation as a big cause of disconnect on the campus. In the future, there would be no stigma against CAPS, a trend that we are already seeing on campus.
This idea is connected to the social aspect of campus. Activities at UR are focused on Greek Life, and many non-Greek students feel isolated. Changing the social culture of UR could actually be a better treatment for the problem I mentioned above, but I think it would be much more difficult.
Eden Kim says:

February 26, 2019 at 7:17 pm

The vision for UR that I am most excited about is having students from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds live and learn together. Currently, there are many students from very high income families and very low income families at UR. Generally, this is connected with how the social life plays out on campus. This could be in the form of having/not having a car on campus, participating in Greek life, and which clubs students feel comfortable joining. This idea is related to the social and financial visions for UR because it connects students’ socioeconomic statuses with their social life on campus. There have been discussions about people who are not in Greek life feeling excluded from the social scene at UR, and my vision of UR would banish any feelings of loneliness that students feel based on their socioeconomic status.
Kayley Hoffman says:

February 26, 2019 at 9:05 pm

A future UR that excites me is one where students are genuinely invested in their club activities. As of right now, many of the clubs feel as if they are barely hanging by a thread despite having funding. Their memberships are done, and people seem less interested in attending events than ever before. This stems from the fact that the University of Richmond has created an environment that places a lot of stress on students to spread themselves way too thin. This increased stress prevents them from engaging deeply with any one event. Furthermore, even though clubs may have adequate funding, they do not have adequate promotion and advertisement around campus. Instead, the social life at UR is controlled by a party culture that could stem from the need to drink away the stress. It is also controlled by Greek life which again severely isolates those who do not have the financial means to join the “in-crowd”, and thus deteriorating their mental health and overall commitment to the school and its opportunities.
Iklim Isyar says:

February 26, 2019 at 9:38 pm

My vision for a better University of Richmond has safe space for students to have a break. In class, we mentioned that a lot of students tackles with stress and thus result in a mental health problems. The CAPS is not enough for the stress that everyday students are facing. In my vision, students can have less classes for certain semesters to have break from the academic stress, and professors have more flexible grading schedules that they can talk it out with students according to students needs. For the social aspect, as Kayley says many clubs are barely seen around the campus despite they have the funding. The school can provide assistance to the club to help them out with challenging the stigmas and increase promotion. With the increase of clubs, many people can find their safe space instead of greek life. I think school needs to supervise but not control the clubs so that they can ensure the safety of its participant.
Renata Stankowska says:

February 26, 2019 at 10:29 pm

I am most excited about allocating money to mental health programs and their betterment. I think the CAPS program has potential. Though in its current phase it is not beneficial nor functioning at its peek, with the right funding and right leadership team I believe that something can be done to combat the issues we have at hand. The building of the new wellness building seems promising, focus towards the athletes is the right step, and the building process seems to be on its way. I agree that this is not enough, and our money and overall understanding of the finances we have and the resources that our students should have is not fully there but with the inclusivity of students into meetings, and decision making I think will slowly also make its way and then be able to make accurate and much needed change that can actually help the students get to the proper and happy state that they deserve to have at an institution that has the money to provide all and any resources students may need.
Sabrina Duarte says:

February 26, 2019 at 11:15 pm

A specific vision I see for UR is a campus filled with events and activities with social, active students. The interest students have towards campus and activity involvement seems to be decreasing, and there is less socializing and enjoyment. I think these problems are connected to other issues regarding clubs, activities, & sports as well as mental health & CAPS as discussed during our class period. Students are extremely stressed, focusing the majority of their energy and concerns on academics or using their free time to build up their resumes with internships, volunteering, and jobs. UR and its students seem to have forgotten the importance of socializing and exploring one’s interests and hobbies. Dedicating and promoting more time to clubs and activities can help students explore themselves and the community around them, relieving stress, and strengthening their mental health. It could help make the people genuinely more happy, healthy, and active.
Kevin Villagomez says:

February 26, 2019 at 11:19 pm

The version of the university that I believe is very possible, that can happen and would have a dramatic impact on campus would be the broadening of the usage of our budget . I do believe that the socioeconomic disparity of campus continues to grow and I do believe the university has the ability to make the social disparity on campus not as visible by providing certain students accessibility to conform to the norms of being a university of Richmond student. I do also believe that the university could do a better job of reaching the middle class and creating a smaller gap on campus by rethinking their way of financial aid and providing students that are on the margins the same financial aid package as those who are severaly under. Creating a middle class on campus would make this gap not as noticeable and would create a much come welcoming community feeling.
Zixuan Liu says:

February 26, 2019 at 11:23 pm

The vision I am excited about is the change in UR’s vision. I think UR and all students should think about why they want to go to college, what can they benefit from the experience, how can they use this experience in their lives for their goals. But honestly though, I think this is more of a momentum/inertia of the society, that we might need to reframe the meanings of education in this world.
UR has declares in its vision that it will be a leader in higher education and prepare its students to contribute to and succeed in this complex world. I think it is on account of these goals and visions that have put students under so much pressure. Building social network, building resume, extracurricular activities, getting good grades, all these elements bound them to have a stressful life.
I think my vision is connected to mental health and stress management.
Rong Bao says:

February 26, 2019 at 11:37 pm

A vision I’m hoping to see in the UR campus is that our school has the willingness and capability to hold national/international events in all areas. This vision is inspired by the fact that Richmond is going to hold the Menuhin Competition in 2020, which is the world’s leading international competition for young violinists, and our school is going to be one of the main sites.

This vision is closely related to the university budget – if we have the economic capacity – as well as the social inclusiveness that helps us bond with the community and break the bubble. In the budget part, I’m hoping to know more about its transparency and distribution into different areas to identify if we have money and space to support big events; in terms of social inclusiveness, I’ll explore what are some of the “ghosts” haunting the school or obstacles (power and hegemony?) that prevent the school from being more open than it should.
Phillip Daniel says:

February 27, 2019 at 2:08 am

The vision of UR that I am most excited about is exploring more specified ways in which UR and students on campus contribute to the overall felt experiences of black students on campus. I am very interested in discovering how academics, faculty, and the social scene at this university bring about many of the negative and positive concerns /experiences communicated and stressed by black students on campus. My vision is primarily connected to class discussions on mental health and stress management on this campus, especially in regards to CAPS being an option that doesn’t entirely work. My hope is that this project may bring about tangible solutions that I may feel will work in reality myself.
Mysia Perry says:

February 27, 2019 at 12:32 pm

I am extremely excited about the University of Richmond working to develop a multicultural space on campus for all students of color to use and find a space for community. I am particularly interested in seeing how we could develop this space to not only provide a safe haven for those involved but to celebrate our accomplishments and the legacies that we have built within the last 50 years of being an integrated campus. This community space would be an excellent way to show the devotion UR has to developing an environment that is not only diverse, but is also inclusive and works actively towards equity. This space would serve as an environment to welcome the concerns of students of color and implement actions to maintain the minority population on campus.

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