Colleges That Change Lives

It is not just a recruiting ploy, McDaniel College really does change lives for the thousands of of students who walk across the stage inside Gill Gymnasium at the end of their four years.

Sure I did not think about it then but now that I'm on the other side of it, there were, and probably still are, so many subtle things that made McDaniel what it is.

1. The Honor Code: “I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this piece of work, nor have I knowingly tolerated any violation of the Honor Code.”
Sure who doesn't remember the half-witted conversation in Dr. Neal's Public Policy class about what happens if you sign your name to the Honor Code and you knowingly violated the policy and one of your classmates says "you get hit by lightning." Even though it was said in jest, looking back that point in time was when you knew the Honor Code had legs. It made you afraid of doing something unethical therefore made you a better person. (One would hope.) That is why the Honor Code works and more schools need to look towards it.

2. "Choices!"
I don't think there is a person who graduated from McDaniel who has not seen the play they put on Sunday night just before your first day of classes only once. Comprised of upperclassmen - mostly theater arts majors - "Choices" is a small skit-based play dealing with all the little nuances of college life from - plagiarism to alcohol to drugs to cheating, anything is game - that the incoming freshmen may encounter. It is not the administration telling the freshmen what not to do, it is their peers - the people they are more apt to listen to and follow. And the best part about it is that it is so well played out and funny, that even the upperclassmen who already sat through it once want to come back and watch it again. Alumni Hall is packed with standing room only that night.

I only got two for right now but these are the two things that I hope to bring to Newbury in the future because I know, speaking from past experiences that it works. Even if we only do a "Choices!" type of thing in athletics it still would make a huge difference. That current upperclassmen student-athletes can run the show and be a part of athletic orientation at the beginning of the year.

One of my long term goals is to be able to get Newbury on the list of Colleges that Change Lives and I know they can get there.