As the first few weeks of the fall semester fade into the past, first-year students are continuously engageing with First-Year Class Dean Aacha Brown-Gregg’s new program titled the First Six Weeks initiative. Tasked by the Maytum Center for Student Success team with developing the initiative, Brown-Gregg has invested many hours in ensuring the program is as beneficial for first-year students as possible.
“The first six to eight weeks of a first year’s first semester is crucial to creating their sense of belonging on the campus they choose to attend,” Brown-Gregg said “You’re creating friends, you’re creating a community for yourself and if you don’t find those things, then you have no sense of what we call belonging.”
The First Six Weeks initiative was created because first-year students in the past have cited difficulties during their first year of college. Brown-Gregg was disheartened by the number of students she heard that were not exploring the campus as much as she wanted. Last year, Brown-Gregg said that during the first-year orientation week and Gator Week of Welcome, very few freshman students showed up to activities.

So, her assignment during this past summer, given to her by Dean for the Student Experience Ian Binnington, was to create the initiative. The initiative also fulfills part of Allegheny’s strategic plan, which consists of five major goals for the college. The First Six Weeks initiative falls under the second goal, which aims to make the campus more vibrant and more inclusive for the growing diversity of the small but mighty private university.
The main team Brown-Gregg pulled together for developing the initiative was the director of the IDEAS center Natalie Brown-Gregg and the director of residence life Stacie Wolbert.
Since Aacha Brown-Gregg only started in her role February 2024, she said this task was hard to pull off in such a limited amount of time. The tasks associated with the development of the initiative included attending conferences and working with Natalie Brown-Gregg and Wolbert. The team started out by brainstorming who they wanted first-years to connect with, Aacha Brown-Gregg said. Several ideas that were raised included connecting with Residence Life, meeting with Resident Advisors, connecting to other cultures and knowing how to reach the Center for Career and Professional Development.
“The first-year students should get into rhythm of their classes and get involved with student activities,” Natalie Brown-Gregg said. “The first 6 weeks Allegheny has provided ensures students have something to engage with that will ultimately provide community.”
After developing the list of ways for first-years to get engaged, Aacha Brown-Gregg created a public-facing web page with details about the initiative. She said she pulled off making the website with just a week left before the first-years moved in.
Orientation Leaders — the upperclassmen who guide first-year students in groups during their first few days on campus — have mixed thoughts on the success of the First Six Weeks Initiative.
“It’s a good initiative and a good concept but it hasn’t really been executed properly to get freshmen involved,” said Orientation leader Skye Kramer, ’27. “The idea is there. Trying to get the freshmen involved within the first six weeks is important when it comes to college life. But, they haven’t really advertised it pretty well because a lot of the freshmen you talk to wouldn’t really know about it.”
Aacha Brown-Gregg has attempted to spread the word about the initiative through a variety of paths, including through mandatory sessions, through the RAs and the Class of 2028 Instagram page. She posts on a regular basis to advertise weekly events. Posts contain information about all of the programs that are happening, Monday to Monday, highlighting the collaborating partners on campus.
The team’s goal after the first six weeks of the academic year are over is for the first-years to feel prepared to continue to be involved with campus activities and events. Also, they expect for first-years to be able to use the resources that the team has connected them to, like Center for Career and Professional Development staff and the health and wellness resources.
A primary reason that motivated Brown-Gregg to develop the First Six Weeks Initiative is to ensure that all first-year students know about the wide variety of resources available to them.
“My main objective,” Brown-Gregg said, “is to set you all up for success.”