David Chandler, a senior English student and nontraditional student correspondent for the Daily Emerald,wrote about what the umbrella term of “nontraditional student” encompasses.

Chandler originally wanted to report about upcoming events hosted by the non-traditional student office in Oregon Hall. However, as he began writing the story in late June, there weren’t many events occurring over the summer. Chandler also noted that the event schedule can change “from day to day, week to week,” so he opted to focus on the subject in a broader sense.

“Something around 40% of the American university population qualifies as nontraditional,” Chandler said. Even Chandler was unaware of who all counted as a nontraditional student, he said, citing DREAMers as an example.

“I just want all these people who might feel out of place — like I kinda do cause I’m more than twice the age of your average undergraduate — to know that there are other people like them,” Chandler said. “I got a whole lot of other ideas for shorter stories.”
Chandler has been an A&C reporter for the Daily Emerald since June and this is his first cover story.