Rutgers-Camden New Students Make Friends, and a Difference, Before School Starts

Before classes start on Sept. 1, some first-year students already have made friends at Rutgers–Camden. Better still, they have already made a difference in a North Camden community. 

Through the Rutgers–Camden Peer Mentor Program, which helps foster social interaction through community service and academic support, about a dozen Honors College students spent an afternoon cleaning up a Camden City green space.

According to Allison Wisniewski, assistant dean of students at Rutgers–Camden, research shows that the first six weeks of college is when real connections to a campus are made.  “Establishing smaller cohorts for students lets them connect right away,” she says. That’s why the innovative Rutgers–Camden program groups new first-year and transfer students by similar academic pursuits and assigns them to a mentor, an established Rutgers–Camden student trained to offer guidance.

Rutgers–Camden Peer Mentor Susan Krisch, a junior psychology and art major, suggested her mentees pitch in at Northgate Park, located at Sixth and Elm Streets, a short walk from campus. Krisch says the clean-up helped students connect to each other as well as the larger Camden community. “Not only will we benefit from having the park cleaner, but Camden residents also saw students caring about the city. That’s a good thing,” says Krisch, who will continue to organize events and serve as a resource to her peer group throughout the academic year.

After working in the park, the group enjoyed a traditional barbecue and a game of volleyball in the campus quad. According to first-year student Sasha Rezvina, a 2009 Seneca High School graduate, the food tasted better knowing she’d helped the community. “I figured there’s a barbecue, so I’d feel guilty if I didn’t work for it.”

Approximately 15 peer mentors each help about 40 new students transition to academic and social life at Rutgers–Camden. In addition to the park clean-up effort, other groups bonded before the semester through various activities, including learning about jobs and creating “play therapy piñatas” for sloth bears at the Philadelphia Zoo.