Non-traditional student community organizers from Brown, Princeton and Yale held the inaugural cross-Ivy Non-Traditional Student Crossover Event at Brown on Saturday. The event attracted around 45 total attendees, all of whom were non-traditional students — including transfer students, resumed undergraduates and student veterans — and non-traditional alumni.
Members of the Undergraduate Council of Students’ Transfer and Resumed Undergraduate Education Student Committee, including Ryan Samuels ’27, Jared Yee ’27 and Kloey Albertson ’27, organized the event. The Brown students collaborated with Princeton Transfer Association Treasurer Connor Odom and Yale Eli Whitney Student Society President Claire Hobbs.
The event began on Saturday morning with event organizers offering opening remarks during a welcome brunch in the Watson Institute for International and Political Affairs.
“I think it's really special that not only are we bringing … our non-traditional student groups together for the first time, but we're also connecting our institutions in this way for the very first time,” Hobbs said in her speech.
President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 also spoke at the brunch, expressing support for non-traditional students’ perspectives on campus.
Following a performance by a cappella group Shades of Brown, Brown Office of Military Affiliated Students Program Coordinator Becky Scheusner ’18 shared the guidance she received when joining Brown as an undergraduate while raising children after she left the Navy. Schneuser encouraged non-traditional students to support and seek out one another.
“I could have chosen to leave school and this incredible opportunity behind, but I didn't, because I knew Dean B (Maitrayee Bhattacharyya) had my back,” Scheusner said. Maitrayee Bhattacharyya ’91 is the former senior associate dean of the college for diversity and inclusion.
Attendees then embarked on a campus tour, followed by a stop at the Ivy Madness semifinals at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Programming wrapped up with a film screening and a send-off at the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center.
“Meeting so many people in a similar space, it’s been really cool,” said Cameron Jensen, a Yale student who attended the event, adding that the gathering provided a “good opportunity to hear other people’s stories.” Jensen is an Eli Whitney student who previously enrolled in community college, working at NASA research programs and the U.S. Postal Service.
“Hopefully this event can kickstart and accelerate the things that I already have in the works right now,” Samuels said.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the total number of attendees at the event and incorrectly stated that Jensen is a resumed undergraduate education student. A total of 45 non-traditional students and non-traditional alumni attended the event and Jensen is an Eli Whitney student at Yale. The Herald regrets the error.
