The friendly factor

My husband and I sat at a round table in the back of Torch Lounge. Each of us had been in those seats many times — he as a Flyer grad who grew up on campus, the son of faculty/staff parents, and me a Flyer grad with 20-plus years working at UD. But for the teenagers sitting between us, this was all new. 

How did it feel, I wondered as I stole frequent glances their way, for the whole world of possibilities to open before them?

As I looked, I also noticed they were paying attention — not always a common state for two 17-year-olds, especially since the adults in the front of the room were talking from a PowerPoint presentation. But the topic held our kids’ attentions and that of dozens of other high school students and their families. 

The four of us attended a half-day visit for the UD Sinclair Academy, a flagship partnership that makes a UD education accessible to qualified students. This fall, the University received a national “High Flier” award for its efforts to increase access to a bachelor’s degree for lower-income students (see story, Page 10). 

The energy in the room went up when two UD students from the academy took the microphone. One was junior Allison Palovchik, who shared her involvement with Flyer club sports and study abroad. (For more on her story, see Page 13.) The other was junior Emmanuel Gonzalez. He shared how easy it was to develop a sense of belonging on campus even while taking his first two years of classes at Sinclair, the local community college. He remembered back to when he first heard about how friendly UD’s campus was.  

You may have heard that, too, he told the audience. 

“It is very friendly — I can attest, it’s true.”

The friendly factor might not make the list of reasons parents want their kids to attend a college. Academic quality and career placement probably take the top spots. (UD does well there, too.)

The Princeton Review ranked UD as one of the top-25 happiest campuses in the nation. That might sound silly, but I believe friendliness is underrated. A culture of camaraderie can take you places you’ll never experience on your own. A sense of belonging boosts your ability to learn, participate and soar. 

That is especially important for children like those who come through our home. They all have spent years in the foster care system, where they often lacked a sense of place, let alone attachment. The future is uncertain and usually something to fear. 

But this day, walking back to the car after the campus tour, our son-of-few-words said, “Yeah, I could do this.” I had to turn away, or I would have committed the ultimate parent faux pas and smothered him in a mama bear hug. 

A sense of belonging starts with a “welcome,” but it requires effort and action to demonstrate genuine care and commitment. Those adults in the front of the room — and the legion of donors, administrators, staff and faculty who support programs like the UD Sinclair Academy — have done that for a new generation of Flyer students. 

It’s the friendly campus I remember from my undergraduate days. That it’s now available to even more students makes me proud to be a Flyer.