Customs @ Haverford: Frequently Asked Questions

The overarching goals of the Program are to introduce students to Haverford and to prepare them for the upcoming year. To facilitate this, Customs introduces frosh to a wide range of resources and information on campus, as well as encouraging students to pursue the College's mission: "Non Doctior Sed Meliore Doctrina Imbutus" or "Not more learned, but steeped in a better learning." This essentially hints at the College's commitment to the ideal of not just giving students a degree, but helping them learn about both themselves and the world around them.

Customs People are Haverford's alternative to a Residential Advisor program. Essentially, CPs are live-on-the-hall resources for frosh who help new students get the hang of Haverford and college life and help create community on the hall. Two Customs People live on each freshman hall.

UCAs are juniors or seniors who live on or near the hall and are particularly adept at navigating the complicated waters of academic requirements and the academic departments. UCAs work in tandem with the Faculty Advisors in advising first-year students about their class choices.

AMAs are upper class students who work to increase awareness and participation in multicultural programs, activities, and understanding within a Customs Group. AMAs work with other members of the customs team to help facilitate dialogues about issues like race, class, and gender. These students also work in conjunction with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and affinity groups on campus to help freshmen process these issues and provide resources to do so. The AMAs serve as an off the hall resource to freshmen to assist in a smooth transition to college life.

HCOs are responsible for overseeing first-year students' introduction to the fabled Honor Code. Nearly as old as Customs, the Honor Code is quite possibly one of the most talked-about issues on campus. HCOs facilitate discussions about Honor Code issues and encourage attendance at the twice-yearly Plenary meeting. HCOs also function as a more objective, off-the-hall resource for frosh.

PAFs are upperclass students who work with each Customs Group to foster dialog about issues that are important to college students. Each dialog takes place at a weekly hour-long session and can include topics such as Community, Alcohol, Safe Sex and Contraception, or Eating Issues and Body Image. Peer Awareness Facilitators also function as off-the-hall resources for first-year students and can typically help students get in-touch with the many Student Life professionals available.

Absolutely. While the language may seem a little confusing, the Customs Program itself reaches far past the first five days of the year. Customs Week is the Orientation, but Customs is what happens afterward. It's the interactions and education that happens outside of the classroom, in the halls and spaces where professors fear to tread, where frosh teach Customs People and the other way around.

You can find the Customs Week schedule here.

Raisa Williams is the Dean for First-Year Students. If you'd like to learn more about her role as your dean, visit her website or send her an email.

Visit the First-Year Housing website.