State University of New York at Albany offers an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) for economically and educationally disadvantaged students, which requires the students to attend a five-week summer orientation.
The restrictive policies create a ‘cult-like’ environment, the Albany Student Press reports.
The demanding code of conduct outlining the requirements for student life and routine for the duration of the program is given to the students only after signing a university “participation contract.”
Hank Nuwer, hazing and campus safety expert, said that SUNY at Albany’s EOP policies are “cult-like” and at the level of non-criminal hazing.
“One common behavior in hazing would be to separate the newcomers from the rest of the campus population,” Nuwer told ASP.
The conduct states students must sign in with their student assistant daily and must be escorted if going somewhere outside a program-approved event, including the computer lab, the health center and a parental visit.
Students are also not allowed to enter the suites of the opposite sex or interact with students outside of EOP for the duration of the five-week program.
“Summer program students are not permitted to interact with any students outside of this EOP Summer Program. Continuing students will try to talk to you—don’t do it,” the conduct states.
“It gives them [EOP students] an opportunity to be introduced to the campus, to build social cohesion together in a cohort group,” the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs William B. Hedburg said in defense of the program.
SUNY at Albany’s anti-hazing section on their admission site states, “hazing is any reckless or intentional conduct in connection with the initiation into, or affiliation with, any organization which degrades, humiliates or endangers the mental or physical health of any person, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate.”
“The first two weeks we were all pretty upset,” freshman EOP student Ariah Matias told ASP. “Then when we started making friends and interacting, we were actually having fun because we realized that it was all a benefit.”
Matias also said EOP students were often called “isolation kids.”
Cell phone usage is only allowed during permitted times and if this is broken the student’s phone will be taken for the remainder of the program.
The dress code insists female students must have their shoulders covered, arm length shorts or jeans, and a bra is required. Male students are restricted from wearing “wife beaters,” hats, or sagging pants inside of program related activities.
If a student fails to comply with the rules, they are threatened with “Room Restriction,” where they are only allowed to leave for mandatory events, or immediate dismissal from the program. If the group fails to comply with rules, they are put on “Residential Lockdown,” where students are restricted to their rooms and are not to communicate with one another.
Students told ASP that they agreed the program’s strict policies are a “trade off” for a significantly cheaper public university education.
Hedburg admitted the program has not been evaluated by outside sources but that the increased graduation and retention rates due to the strict policies “speak for themselves.” The policies, though, have been under review for a year-and-a-half, according to EOP director Maritza Martinez.
School officials claim SUNY Albany has one of the most successful programs out of the other 51 other similar programs, ASP reports. ASP surveyed other schools, but only four responded, claiming they did not have similar policies as SUNY Albany.