The Quad’s crowded sidewalks and discarded Otto stickers are signs that this week, high school juniors and seniors are visiting campus in higher numbers than usual, deciding if Syracuse University is right for them. As dedicated students, this means more for us than just a longer than normal wait in the Starbucks line. Spring Reception for Admitted students on Friday presents a challenge for us all to ensure that only the strong of heart join our student body next fall.

If this university is going to produce the kind of successful alumni that help us maintain a prestigious reputation, I need to know our incoming students can handle a little adversity. With the sun shining and the weather finally warm, Syracuse has morphed into a campus unlike itself. The Quad is bursting with pick-up Frisbee games and outdoor study sessions. People are smiling and greeting one another.

I walked to class and did not see a single pair of Uggs. I repeat, no Uggs. Our visitors arenít getting a true taste of the Orange. They are getting a mirage, a charade, a glimpse of life at SU that only lasts for three weeks of the semester. When next winter hits, no doubt by the first week of October, the freshmen who visited our campus this week arenít going to be ready to rally.

Don’t get me wrong: I love SU, and I’ve sincerely enjoyed my time here. But this school isnít always easy to go to. The chilling cold that lasts until April (flash back to last week when we got frost overnight) causes our student population to become bitter and unfriendly. No one shares a laugh over iced mochas on the Quad; we hibernate, dreading each second we need to venture outdoors. When it’s below freezing, few people bother to remove a hand from the pocket of their ankle-length North Face to give a friendly wave.

On Monday, more than 2,000 admitted students visited campus for Spring Reception. With a year of robberies and student deaths, incoming students may think this makes the school look unsafe. But it really is just ensuring that next yearís freshman class isnít scared of a little danger. I want students who will risk getting mugged walking home from the library for a little late night study time. Our cheerful tour guides who tell admitted students lies like ‘snow can be fun,’ are just relieving the worries of the weak.

If the Class of 2014 is going to excel here, it needs to decide to come to SU fully aware of its downsides. Our campus has traded in its uniform of Ed Hardy shirts, leggings and Uggs for J Crew sundresses, pastels and cut-off shorts, giving prospective students and their families the misconception that this is a preppy campus. When I first moved into SU, I brought with me a closet full of brightly-colored sundresses I had planned to wear while studying on the Quad, proof I really should have gone to college somewhere in the south. I donít want to see next year’s students make the same mistake.

If you want a school of champions, the power is in your hand. Before smiling at admitted students telling them how much you love SU, yell ‘Freshmen,’ and gauge how they handle the abuse. Take off those madras shorts. Channel the unpleasantness you’re bound to have next semester. Burst into a fit of rage over our losing football team. Make sure next yearís freshmen know what they’re up against.

It’s Darwinism, baby; only the strong survive.

Courtney Egelston is a senior magazine journalism and political science major. Her column appears weekly and she can be reached at cbegelst@syr.edu.

Published on April 21, 2010 at 12:00 pm