When Chrisel Martinez read a recent article that described a summer orientation program she went through several years ago at SUNY Albany as a “cult-like” operation that sanctions various forms of “hazing,” she was not impressed.
“The Educational Opportunity Program challenged, supported and empowered me throughout my college years in ways no professor, colleague or coursework was able to,” Martinez told Diverse in response to the Albany Student Press article about the EOP program at SUNY Albany.
“Before EOP I was just another Afro-Latina from Harlem with a dream and a desire,” Martinez said. “This program supported me when, once upon a time, growing up in a marginalized community meant no one had your back but your mother.”
The article says the EOP program — which is meant to provide “admission opportunities for economically and educationally disadvantaged students,” according to a university website — is a “jarringly repressive” program governed by “strict rules” and “draconian punishment.”
“Before being admitted to the university, academically and financially disadvantaged students applying through the EOP program must first graduate from a five-week orientation, structured by a system of strict rules, which if violated result in punishments referred to by EOP officials as ‘lockdown,’ ‘bed rest,’ and ‘isolation,’” the article states.
The article has prompted officials at SUNY Albany to review the program’s policies and procedures.
“While we differ with the article’s characterization of the EOP summer program, we believe that the questions raised deserve further scrutiny,” Karl Luntta, director of media relations at SUNY Albany, said in a statement to Diverse.
