All-female leadership spearheads RIC summer orientation program
Tim Yean
Managing Editor
PROVIDENCE, RI – For the first time in Rhode Island College’s summer orientation program, an all-female executive board took charge of planning, organizing and executing the welcoming of the campus’s new students.
The leadership group included Madison Mello, Isabella “Bee” Ba, Nilsa Tashjian and Grace Goulart, all playing a key role in ensuring summer orientation ran smoothly, each having been a part of the program for three years.
“It is a different dynamic than it was in the past years,” Lead Student Orientation Leader Madison Mello told The Anchor. “Since I’ve been working on this staff, it’s always been one male and one female. There’s always this connotation whenever there’s a difference between them, and it’s just nice to have a bunch of fellow females who understand how sometimes what we can say can be taken differently as a woman.”
The team also wants to dispel previous assumptions regarding treatment of male and female orientation leaders.
“We’ve noticed the difference between how students treat leads, especially as a man or as a woman,” Lead Student Emcee Isabella Ba said. “Orientation leaders themselves will gravitate more or have an idea of a male lead being easygoing and chill and super fun to talk to, and a woman lead to be more… stuck up.”
Through student leader training and getting to know each other on campus in general, strong communication has been the focal point in keeping orientation organized.
“Because it’s also our third year together, we’re really good at seeing issues, addressing them and taking a lot of initiative,” Nilsa Tashjian, Lead Logistics Orientation Leader, said. “Once we knew we had these positions, we started working right away and I think we’ve led a successful orientation session.”
Rhode Island College had three sets of two-day sessions for new student orientation over the summer, welcoming a bouquet of students enticed by RIC’s in-state affordability and the Hope Scholarship, which provides students’ last two years of tuition free if they are on track to graduate in four years.
Grace Goulart, Lead Family Orientation Leader, told The Anchor that she was impressed by new students’ willingness to enter leadership roles, especially so early in their college life when those students haven’t even begun yet in the summer.
“I think for the students that are coming to RIC or haven’t come to RIC yet in the future, a lot of them have really good leadership roles,” Goulart said. “They should take charge in that and find leadership roles like being a tour guide or an orientation leader.”
The leadership team has received high praise. Alie Drew, Director of New Students, wrote in a statement to The Anchor about their leadership in helming the largest orientation team in the program’s history, with 26 Orientation Leaders helping to welcome the Class of 2030.
“What this leadership team truly reflects is the strength of our Orientation Leader program and the incredible students who choose to be a part of it,” Drew said. “Maddie, Bee, Grace, and Nilsa have each demonstrated exceptional dedication, ambition, and leadership throughout their time with New Student Programs.”
The college prepares for its largest freshman class in 15 years, with 1,000 new first-year students and 2,000 new students overall. The Hope Scholarship plays a big role in the surge of students, but it’s the job of the New Student Orientation team to show that there’s more than just that at RIC, and Alie Drew hopes that those new students see their leadership and model it.
“Their success demonstrates that when students are given opportunities to explore leadership, challenge themselves, and grow, they rise to the occasion and make a lasting impact on our campus community.”
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