Last year, a referendum was passed by UCLA’s undergraduate student body to add a transfer representative office to the Undergraduate Students Association Council. Additionally, in recent years advocacy for transfer students has grown, and the process for transfer students to integrate with the UCLA community has become more transparent. However, in a recent submission written by a director in the Transfer Student Representative’s office of USAC published by the Daily Bruin on Wednesday, transfer students are characterized as students who could face plummeting grades, diminishing mental health and even the possibility of transferring to another university.
This is the same stigma that has been used to describe those who face hardship due to mental aptitude, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religious background and other identifying properties sanctioned by student groups and university administration. However, as transfer students, we reject this premise. The UCLA student body has fought tirelessly to use our limited resources to foster a safe, inclusive, and diverse community for all, because being different can be challenging. As well-intentioned as that may be, the transfer student community does not belong in that group.
While we do not dismiss the hardships of any student, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or religious background, we are not of the school of thought that believes separating students by their identity solves problems. It has led to a vicious circle within the community of expecting institutional help and shelling off responsibility. Although some transfers may request additional help because of extenuating circumstances, assuming all transfer students need this help for the sole reason of being transfer students is completely wrong.
This attitude portrays transfer students as helpless, and unable to take responsibility for themselves. It further implies that transfer students need to be patronized and treated differently because of their status at UCLA. The condescending hand-holding does nothing to strengthen the transfer student community. All students at UCLA receive a degree upon graduation, regardless of whether they transferred here as a third-year, or were accepted as a first-year. Therefore, transfer students should not be treated any differently. Putting people in groups further creates animosity among students and creates more division than anything else.
Additionally, there seems to be this opinion among some students that we deserve extra help because we are transfer students. However, transfer students will never be able to have the exact same college experience as those who started as first-year students because, by definition, transfer students initially attended a different college and thus will have a different experience. That is the cost we incurred by starting out at a different college.
This fact cannot be changed and should not be the focal point of conversation. Most transfer students have used the tools made available by the California Community Colleges system to get a quality education for a cheaper price. We have done our due diligence and compete at the same academic level as traditional UCLA students. In a 2011 College Board report entitled “Improving Student Transfer from Community Colleges to Four-Year Institutions – The Perspective of Leaders from Baccalaureate-Granting Institutions” Janina Montero, vice chancellor for student affairs at UCLA, said, “Transfer students bring a focus to their academic work and they graduate at the same rate as our freshmen. Our transfers participate in all of our academic departments. They are really spread across all majors.” While we may need help finding our way around the UCLA community, it should not be an expected service for us. It is our responsibility, as contributing members of society, to learn how to help ourselves instead of making the university responsible for our successful education.
Siciliano is a fourth-year mathematics/economics student and the president of Bruin Libertarians.
Jones is a fourth-year mathematics/economics student and the president of Bruin Republicans.
I’m hardly ever with Republicans and Libertarians, but I completely agree. As a “transfer student”, if I fail or succeed it’s because I wanted to fail or I wanted to succeed. Let’s take responsibility for ourselves instead of comparing transfers to real marginalized communities. And if we want to be respected among our peers, we need to earn it the way everyone else has.
On a side note, I really hope that one day we’ll get rid of the position of transfer rep. As I wrote in another post, I voted for the establishment of the position and for the incumbent. I wish I hadn’t. While I’m sympathetic to some of her causes, I resent that her position has been used to divide our student body rather than use her experience and voice as a transfer to create productive dialogue and solutions. The current transfer rep’s agenda is not the transfer agenda. Transfers have become more of a joke since this school year began.
This position is beneficial to transfer students because it allows transfers an opportunity to inject themselves directly into USAC. Additionally, transfers, myself included, tend to have a different perspective than students who came to UCLA as a freshman. Guaranteeing that this perspective can be shared with the rest of USAC allows for a more diverse board.
Although I understand what this article is saying, I don’t agree with it. Below are my reasons why:
1.What I strongly don’t agree with is that just because we went to a different college first, that we don’t deserve to have as close as a traditional experience as possible (which can be achieved in a few simple ways. Ex: actually having NSA’s that are transfers). We’re paying a fortune to attend this school, it should be worth our time and money.
2. The next big thing I disagree with is that in terms of a ‘safe and inclusive community’ me and my roommate are both transfers living in the main residential halls and we’ve felt nothing but animosity from our floor mates, who constantly make degrading comments about transfers (and we’ve also heard similar comments from many others around campus and from staff too). Because of this we can’t wait to graduate. We’ve never felt so unwelcome somewhere in our lives and our RA’s don’t seem to think it’s a problem even worth discussing. (Clearly there’s something wrong here if that’s the best the school can do to create this so called ‘safe and inclusive community’)
3. I believe transfer students should be put in the group of those who face hardship. Just because you didn’t face major hardship or isolation during your time here (which is what I’m getting from this article), it doesn’t mean it’s the same for all transfers as you said yourself. Outside of being a transfer and the stigma we have to face with that, we also have to face the other hardships you describe, among others. If you don’t feel transfers have their own specific hardships, that’s your own opinion so don’t generalize it to everyone (because in my opinion you’re dead wrong). And before you say it’s because these transfer students are irresponsible or need ‘hand holding’, it’s not. It’s mainly due to the school for not setting us up to par as freshmen when we first entered UCLA. We can do only so much to prepare ourselves. The school has to make some effort too, and the only effort I’ve felt is them finding more ways to empty out my pockets or by ‘creating’ something to help that isn’t even fully functional yet or reliable.
While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I completely disagree with everything written in this article. I understand the dangers and disadvantages of distinguishing ourselves as a different, but whether you’d like to acknowledge it or not, transfer students are different; we are a distinct subgroup of the student population, which is only growing. Many transfers face several of the stigmas listed above as well. &While the majority of the student population at UCLA are freshmen admits who enter around the age of 17-18 years old, the average transfer students’ age ranges from 16-49 years old. The majority of transfer students are also 30 years old, instead of the traditional 22 years old, when they complete their bachelor’s degree. In addition, transfers are usually non-White and first-generation students, many of which have familial and/or financial obligations they need to address. Yes, many transfers, like myself, are fortunate enough to have the support of their parents, but the reality is many don’t–many don’t know how to navigate through college, let alone one of the largest research universities not only in the country, but the world. &Yes, taking initiative is part of it, of course, but the university is responsible for the success for all of its students, especially when their reputation relies on it. When compared to the services that other universities offer their transfers, UCLA’s pitiful.