Professor Martin remarked that students are “full of eagerness” and added that he has been consistently impressed by the questions that they ask. Classics professor Richard Martin has been a guest lecturer for SLE classes for the past 18 years, regularly teaching about Homer’s Odyssey. SLE’s focus on intellectual vitality is also a source of attraction for the guest speakers who devote their time to delivering lectures to SLE students. The “genuine bonds and friendships” she formed at SLE motivated her to stay connected after her freshman year through opera trips, speaker events and the community connection opportunity. “SLE was one of the reasons why I ended up choosing Stanford,” Markley said. During admit weekend, Markley recalled that she was impressed by the program’s camaraderie and SLE students’ authentic connection with each other “on an intellectual and on a social level.” Mary Markley ’23, a SLE alum and my SLE community connection who helps tutor SLE students like me, echoed the sense of unity that SLE provides. Galvez added that FloMo’s design, which houses students’ rooms, classrooms and dining hall all in one building, helps maintain the vibrant and integrated environment of SLE. The fact that SLE students have easy access to their professors and each other, Galvez said, helps facilitate students’ conversations with professors before and after the lecture as well as with SLE residential tutors and community connections in and out of FloMo. SLE “was always part of a residential program - a college in a university - where everything is fluid,” Galvez said. Professor Marisa Galvez, the director of SLE, credits SLE’s integrated, all-in-one environment with the program’s continued success. So with SLE’s 50th anniversary approaching in 2024, I couldn’t help but wonder: what is SLE’s secret to maintaining a sustainable ecosystem? How are students and professors so dedicated to this enriching community, that they remain a part of it year after year? It includes dedicated section leaders, guest lecturers, program alums who continue to reside in the program’s dedicated dorms, community connections (who tutor students on essays) and residential tutors. The vibrant community of SLE extends beyond just its conversational frosh. These exchanges that engage the classics, history and literature, are often initiated by frosh in Stanford’s Structured Liberal Education Program (SLE). While the hallways of the Cardenal dorm of Florence Moore Hall are often filled with laughter and hustles, they also often host hours-long deep intellectual conversations about - among other typical college quibbles - the nature of justice or the role of religion in everyday life.
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