Although you can tell the first-years around campus by the obvious lanyards, you can also tell by their willingness to make new friends with other first-years.
But are upperclassmen just as eager to get to know this new class of students?
I knew when I came onto campus around five weeks ago that I was ready to know every student on campus, from other first-years to seniors. What I didn't realize was that not everyone had the same mentality as I did and still do.
I think it's important for DePauw to be a strong community; students of all ages, races and grades need to be eager to know each other.
However, after talking to several first-years, seniors and those in between, the results were varied as to how many first-year students knew upperclassmen and how many upperclassmen knew them.
One first-year said, "If [upperclassmen] are nice and friendly then I would be friends with them but I'm not going out of my way to make more upperclassmen friends."
However, this same student admitted that he knew 15-20 upperclassmen by name.
Another first-year student answered that he only knew between one and three upperclassmen, including his resident assistant.
"I feel like there is no interaction between the freshmen and upperclassmen. Right now, freshmen are never in the same places as upperclassmen besides classes, but then there's no time for us to talk to them," first-year Jen Norehad said. "Socially, there's nowhere for us to hangout with them."
When interviewing a senior, she admitted that she only knows around five first-years and only by their first names. She also said the only reason she knows them is from her classes.
After talking to a sophomore who said she knew around eight first-year students from clubs and hosting former prospective students, she said, "I think the bigger issue is upperclassmen don't know freshmen unless they get involved, which they don't always do."
I realized that it's up to everyone at DePauw, including first-years, for all students to be familiar with students in different grades.
If first-year students get involved in sports or other campus activities and clubs, they will be more likely to know students of all grades and vice versa. But it is also up to the upperclassmen to greet them with open arms and welcome them into the DePauw community.
Among all of the Division III sports teams that DePauw has to offer, there are also over 100 student organizations to choose from to get involved in. But there is still a gap in the social scene between the first-year class and others.
"The only upperclassmen I know are through the swim team," Norehad said. "When we can go onto greek property, I think both freshmen and upperclassmen will be more willing to interact with each other."
Although some students, like myself, are eager to know as many students as they can no matter what grade they are in, others have a harder time making friends.
For that reason, students need to break out of their shells and join a club or activity, or just start talking to more people in order for DePauw to maintain the tightly knit, welcoming community that it is and that many other schools admire and strive to be like.
-McCarter is a freshman St. Louis, Mo. whose major is undecided.