TIP at UGA: A New Site Continues TIP Traditions

Story By AnnaMarie Koehler-Shepley/ Photos by Joy Hong

M&M staffers

In late November of 2008, many shocked students ripped open a letter from Duke TIP and anxiously read the words that would spark countless frantic calls to students all around, innumerable Facebook groups expressing the outrage, and many confused emails to Duke TIP administration.
Above all, however, it sparked the beginning of Duke TIP Summer Studies Program at the University of Georgia for the first time ever.
In the last 29 years, over 1.9 million students have participated in Duke TIP Summer Studies Program. Those who attend, known as TIPsters, are academically gifted rising eighth through eleventh grade students. TIP offers challenging and rigorous classes taught during a three week time span, a fun residential life setting, and everlasting friendships for almost all of those involved.
One of the campuses that houses Duke TIP every summer is Davidson College. It only boards rising eighth and ninth graders, and it always has.
Last November, Duke sent a letter to all of its TIPsters letting them know that they would be expanding what they call the ‘Davidson Model’ throughout other campuses and opening new sites at the University of Georgia and Trinity University in Texas. At the same time, other campuses made new rules specifying age to determine the students who could attend.
The majority of students now excluded from Appalachian State University TIPsters, along with a few Kansas University and Texas a&M TIPsters and some new students as well, have all gathered at UGA for this year’s Duke TIP Summer Studies Program.
The on-site director for TIP at UGA, Alex Pagnani, says that having a new location at UGA is ideal because 16% of accepted TIPsters are from the state of Georgia. “I think that we have a ton of students in Georgia that could really benefit from this…Close to one out of five students in the entire TIP program, at any campus, is from the state of Georgia.”
This year, TIPsters are staying at Rutherford Hall and eating their meals at various campus dining halls, and the roughly 130 TIPsters are doing their best to create and maintain traditions of our new TIPhome.
A third year student, Cole Chadwick, who attended Texas A&M for his past two years commented on UGA’s first year of TIP with, “There are a lot of bumps and stuff that they still need to work out…but I definitely do like it here…The staff is doing a great job.”
Cheyanne Hampton has never attended a Duke TIP Summer Studies Program before, and is glad that she came for her third year. “The people are really cool and the campus is really nice,” she said. “Well, I didn’t really know what to expect, like this was all brand new to me and I can tell that people are really close and have lots of traditions.”
No matter how ‘cool’ it is, though, some students are having a hard time adjusting to the new campus. Kelly Castro, a fourth year TIPster who has attended three campuses in her time with Duke, but who favors ASU, believes, “ASU was different because everybody there just takes you in - we’re all one big family. So it’s easier to get emotionally attached.”
Like Kelly, many old ASU TIPsters are very passionate about being relocated, but Dillon McDermott, a second year TIPster originally from ASU said, “They’re [the staff] doing alright.” Dillon thinks that people should work to become a closer knit TIP home. “It wasn’t the greatest merge ever; it sort of split the people worse because of the mix of traditions from all the other people”.
Even TIPsters Cole Chadwick and Lucas Postolos both agree that the overwhelming campus pride some of the students have is “annoying”. “They can’t do anything about it now, they’re already at Georgia, but I can understand why they’d be upset. But they still have to deal with it,” commented second year, Lucas.
Walker Bauer, a third year student who is indifferent to campuses, said, “Most of the traditions are the same any campus you go to, every campus is gonna have some kind of field day and every campus is gonna have spirit week and every campus is gonna have a dance every week and so really they just switch the names up, that’s about it.”
Even with all the controversy, Pagnani truly believes that this new situation will work. “We’ve tried to do a little bit of balancing and get some traditions from different places….but [also] trying to make this place a campus of its own…I think that UGA is very promising.”
In the end, UGA has been put to the test in its first TIP year. While it hasn’t had 100% support from TIPsters, students are starting to accept and embrace their new campus. Even though some changes will need to be made for next TIP generations at UGA, overall it has been a good experience for everyone involved.
As the saying goes, it’s the people that make the place. And through it all TIPsters know that they will always have each other.