Some 59 rising sophomores, including some of Vanderbilt Visions’ biggest critics, will be among the leaders for the program that is now in its second year.

Vanderbilt Visions began as VUcept, a weeklong orientation program, and in fall 2006 was extended to a yearlong series of weekly group meetings and activities. VUcept President Stuart Hill said rising sophomores are participating in the program next year to use their experience to make it better.

“I think part of it is that a lot of them believe in the program, but a lot would like to see it executed better,” Hill said. “It’s exciting to have that energy from those who have experienced Visions before, whereas last year’s leaders where completely new at Vanderbilt Visions.”

Rising sophomore and VUceptor Whitney Garrett said she did not have a good experience with Vanderbilt Visions last year.

“I based my interview for being a VUcept leader this year on my experience last year and what I would like to change,” she said. “I did not have a good group dynamic. I’m hoping to make it more fun next year.”

Garrett also said she did not think some of the topics discussed in the weekly group meetings were interesting or relevant.

Participants’ indifference toward the topics was addressed in February when 30 participants spoke with the VUcept executive board.

“The main feedback, the main idea base that we got from the think tank was that they wanted the topics to be more Vanderbilt specific,” Hill said. “So even if there are larger issues to discuss, they wanted it to relate to the Vanderbilt experience. So we’ve tried to design the syllabus to Vanderbilt students specifically.”

Rising sophomore Fabiani Duarte said while he had a good experience with VUcept, he knows some people from his hall were unhappy with their experience. He said they complained about inconvenient meeting times and “heavy” topics before relationships were forged.

“There are a lot of glitches, but I think the spirit behind the program is awesome,” he said “The key of the program is to ensure Vanderbilt is a community and not just an academic institution.”

Garret said she plans to bake brownies for her group, because food “makes everything more fun.” She also said she plans to take her group to various attractions around Nashville including Music Row and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.

“This year, we have more money to spend to take them out to places. Last year we were just able to eat out twice,” Garret said. “I feel like a lot of people come from different cities, so it’s important to help immerse them into Nashville’s culture in addition to Vanderbilt’s culture.”

The VUceptors will know their groups by early July, and they will send each of their 16 freshman group members a handwritten letter.

Hill said he is “very hopeful” about the second round of Vanderbilt Visions.

“I think that the fact that we have one year under our belt makes a huge difference at first,” he said.