By Andrew Pillow

UK’s freshmen seminar classes will be mixing up their rosters by next fall.

Starting in Fall 2010, certain sections of UK 101 will no longer exist. Scholarships, athletics and majors currently separate freshmen in the UK 101 classes.

Certain sections, specifically the sections for William C. Parker Scholars and athletes, will be assimilated into the other sections said Becky Jordan, associate Dean of Students and UK 101 director.

“We will still have a section for first-generation college students, but it won’t be exclusive to any one program,” Jordan said.

The change also partially reflects the desire of the students, according to class evaluations and focus groups.

“The Parker scholars provided feedback that they didn’t like being in separate sections,” Jordan said.

Ashley Hockney, an English sophomore, assisted in teaching a UK 101 course and said specialized sections are necessary because students’ experiences are different.

“It was sometimes difficult to relate with students who had dealt with different pressures than I did,” Hockney said.

Louis Jackson, an engineering junior, said the way UK 101 courses are separated illustrates the university’s need for diversity.

“I just felt it caused an issue of separation,” Jackson said. “There’s already an issue with separation then as soon as you get here, UK separates you.”

However, some students like Tre Knight, a kinesiology sophomore, said being around students of a similar background could improve retention.

“UK 101 clustering all the Parker scholars gave us the only opportunity we had not to feel isolated,” Knight said.

By eliminating some of the specialized sections, most students and faculty, including Jordan, thought the course would benefit from more diversity in all sections.

“UK 101 is sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs and Undergraduate Education, and we both felt it was important to have representation from all students,” Jordan said. “It’s ours and the university’s desire to promote diversity … across all UK 101 sections.”