When Kenneth Glover, the veteran Ujamaa housing director, was abruptly reassigned to another dormitory this summer, backlash from the Cornell community reflected overwhelming support for Glover and his community-building initiatives within the residential college. Many saw the move as an attack on Ujamaa, which was established in 1972 to foster and promote black heritage at the University, and the outcry prompted the administration to temporarily reinstate Glover’s position for a year.

Freshman year can be rough. Everyone experiences some form of severe discomfort during this first baby step towards adulthood. My big hurdle happened to come pretty early on.

I awoke the third day of Orientation after my first night of debauchery at a frat party. I felt a wonderful mixture of discoordination and comfortable grogginess. College was going to be sweet.

Freshman: you’re a virgin. I’m a virgin to this whole column business. We have a lot in common. As a sophomore, I am infinitely older and infinitely wiser than the masses of you that have been storming campus since last Friday. You’re probably homesick, most likely lost and definitely out of your element. Not that I was ever in that position. But I can imagine what it must feel like.

Since I’m a pretty generous person, all things considered, I thought I’d christen this new column with a little spattering of advice for the otherwise clueless 4,000 students that will be aimlessly confined to their dorm rooms, cafeteria of choice and the Cornell Store, because that’s all there really is to see in Ithaca, right? Well, almost.

Congratulations, you shining beacon of good grades, better board scores and obnoxiously impressive extracurricular activities: You’ve made it to Cornell, the Justin Guarini of the Ivy League! Now that you’re on your way to Ithaca — also known as the Middle of Nowhere — you’ll need a guide to keep you safe from all the crazy townies, fratty upperclassmen and irritatingly punctilious R.A.s. Lucky for you, our team of crack reporters has thrown together a list of things, based on semi-, mostly- and entirely- true experiences that is guaranteed to keep you safe from embarrassment and bodily harm throughout your freshman year. So, read carefully, dearest freshman, and whatever you do this coming year, always remember ... DO NOT:

Writing this column forced me to revisit my freshman-year self. Ladies and Gents, it wasn’t pretty. I was bombarded with images I’m loath to remember — of intrepid introductions at the ice cream social … of panicked phone calls home about language requirements … of a particularly tight and lacy brown tank top that made a brazen debut at an Arts & Sciences requirements meeting.

Moms and dads, stay with me.

My point is simply that while I’m hopelessly nostalgic for the bygone days of college (I graduated in May), I don’t look back at orientation week through rose-colored glasses.

We were all in the bathroom when she said it. Each passive-aggressively vying for mirror time as we adjusted our matching neon green beanies and re-applied our Dr. Pepper Lipsmackers.

“Ha ha ha, Shannan … you are so funny! I think that’s why I’m so skinny! You make me laugh so much. Ha ha ha! Do you know laughing burns calories? That’s why I’m SO skinny!”

This Spring Break, my last as a Cornell undergrad, was simply too brief. And now I have no choice — Graduation Day is staring me implacably in the eye. In a few short weeks — I already wish it were longer — I will bid our dear Ithacan icebox a fond farewell.

In keeping with my pensive mood, a swarm of “what ifs” presses incessantly on my mind. What if I had joined a different circle of friends? What if I had chosen a different major? What if I had stayed true to my high school vow to never get overcommitted in college (… and look how well that turned out …). After all, over the course of one’s college career, who wouldn’t wish one could change a decision or two or three?

As a senior soon to graduate, I have been reflecting on how much I have grown since matriculating at Cornell. I believe my undergraduate experience can be best summarized with the quotation, “I don’t know if it was heaven or hell, but whatever it was, it was wonderful.” I, like many students, have excelled and failed, found love and lost it, matured, evolved my cognitive processes, better understood myself, and have grown even more handsome (not like many students). Positivity does not sell, though – just look at Ithaca’s own Positive News — it’s free and no one reads it. For that reason, my editor encouraged me to reflect on some of the past four years’ hell.

Deckhead:

New president delivers first official address in Barton

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Saturday morning saw one of the rare events that filled Barton Hall. But President David J. Skorton was a bit more family friendly than Ludacris and (slightly) less funny than Jon Stewart when he delivered his first official public address as head of the University to thousands of incoming freshman and their families.

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3,200 new undergraduate students, 500 orientation leaders and welcome volunteers and only 9 hours — those are the hard and fast numbers summarizing move-in day on Friday. But those numbers alone cannot convey the monumental success of this well-executed plan.