Stanford To Replace FLI Summer Programs With Single Bridge Program; Students Not Pleased

Stanford University has announced to introduction of a single, new summer bridge program and replace various summer pre-orientation programs for first-generation, and low-income students. Former participants of these pre-orientation programs have criticized the university's decision.

Study in US: Stanford University, until now, has offered multiple pre-orientation programs for first-generation, and low-income (FLI) students. However, of late, interest levels in these programs exceeded the space available, hence the university announced to replace of these programs by a single, new summer bridge program.

Stanford University's decision to replace these programs has attracted criticism from the earlier participants. The new program will replace Stanford Online Academic Readiness (SOAR) and THRIVE, Stanford Summer Engineering Academy (SSEA), and the Leland Scholars Program (LSP). SSEA and LSP participants have objected to this decision and said that staff and students were not consulted before deciding to replace the programs.

“It was a very immediate eradication of anyone directly involved. It was almost like [staff] were a threat to the decision making. Staff was not [consulted]. Scholars were not,” said a Stanford affiliate, as reported by the Stanford Daily.

Only two staff members of the previous summer bridge programs will be working in the new summer bridge program. They are former Stanford Summer Fellows Program Assistant Director Susie Morales and former LSP Program Manager Kylee Beck. These staff members will be in the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE)’s Advising department.

Stanford Says It Consulted Students, Staff On New Summer Bridge Program

Stanford University said in a mail, “The decision to launch was made following robust engagement from students, faculty and staff that have been involved in pre-orientation programming at Stanford.”

“I think if you want to do a program like this, you wouldn’t talk to students about it and you wouldn’t talk to staff about it, because they’d be like, ‘No, that’s a terrible idea,’” said Former LSP residential assistant (RA) Kyia Cole ’24.

Stanford University is now asking for students' feedback to learn the areas for improvement in the new program, however, the students are not happy and they said that the university should asked them earlier.

“It’s only after the decision has been made that we’re being talked to to get advice and wisdom from how our community is made and why it’s so special, rather than throughout the process, and it feels sloppy at worst and willful ignorance at best. Focus groups just signal to me that [the program is] still in development, which is bad,” Bryan Monge Serrano said.

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