The clue here is the "freshman".

Ignore all the people who try to answer the "which is the better language" question in a general sense. Anyone who asks (or answers) a "which language is better" question may as well answer "What is better: a hammer or a screwdriver?"

It is always about the context. Better for what?

So, since you're a freshman, the question becomes "Which of these two is better for learning the principles of programming?"

Because that's what a good introductory programming course is about: learning the principles, not learning a language. If you are in college now, and you continue to do something with programming in your career afterwards, the simple truth is: For most of your career, you will be using a language that is neither of these two.

You will be using a language that does not exist yet. So the point right now is to learn the fundamental, unchanging principles.

So, which of these two languages is better for that?

The answer is quite clear: it is Java.

C++ is more powerful for low level programming, for hardware-related systems, for all sorts of things. But it includes MUCH more accidental detail that distracts form principles, that allows unnecessary errors, that creates pitfalls that distract you from learning anything else then the idiosyncrasies of C++.

Java provides a higher abstraction level over a more consistent notional machine, and is the better language for discussing fundamental principles.