My position is that for university students, you should start with FP. You have them for 4 years anyway, they'll have plenty of time to learn imperative program

My position is that for university students, you should start with FP. You have them for 4 years anyway, they'll have plenty of time to learn imperative programming. But FP both distills essential CS concepts, putting them front-and-center, and it puts your freshman on a more even playing field between those with existing programming experience and those who don't.