First-Year Experience program

Guided by the idea of creating a cohort and a common sense of identity as a foundation for success, the First-Year Experience (FYE) program gives you the opportunity to attend numerous social and educational programs in your residence hall. These programs are designed to offer you opportunities to make connections with peers, become familiar with the Earlham community and explore interests and values.

The FYE program is the framework upon which the residence life staff bases its work within the first-year student area. The Office of Residence Life strives to facilitate learning outside of the classroom. The residence halls are a laboratory of sorts, in which you have the opportunity to implement and enact the ideas, theories and concepts discussed in the classroom. Designed to complement academic encounters and enhance the overall experience, the FYE program and residence life staff support you during the unique experiences you encounter during your first year in college. The social and educational programming within the residence halls extends to you the education, knowledge and access to campus resources to ensure success while providing exposure to new environments, relationships and challenges throughout your time at Earlham College.

The FYE program focuses on four growth areas:

• Interpersonal (how to construct relationships with others).
• Intrapersonal (how to construct your personal belief system and identity).
• Earlham College success (creating a foundation for academic and social success at Earlham).
• Community (creating a sense of school pride, engagement with the Earlham and Richmond communities and the development of an understanding of Earlham’s Principles and Practices).