The author argues that significant inroads in the destigmatization of basic writing courses and students can be made when students are asked to choose not only which FYW course they believe best meets their needs (directed self-placement, or DSP) but also to choose from among a variety of courses (including corequisite courses, particularly those that bear full graduation credit). Drawing from the author's own institution, the author demonstrates how some fortuitous events allowed her to reconsider and reframe FYW curricular offerings and placement methods. The article ends with a review of the unique difficulties inherent in fully implementing universal choice and several examples of how this approach continues to offer unanticipated local opportunities to destigmatize "basic writing."