Hurricane Irma had classes, work and businesses cancelled. While the roads were filled with Floridians leaving for nearby states, New College had to cancel its annual October Open House Event for prospective students. This is partly why Experience New College was able to see over 400 prospective students and their families arrive to campus, the largest admissions event that the school has ever seen.
Prior to the event, an email was sent to the forum from President Donal O’Shea.
“If you see new faces wandering about campus, please greet them and point them in the right direction,” O’Shea wrote. “Thank you in advance for welcoming these prospective students and their families and friends to New College, and for helping us put our best foot forward on this important day.”
Experience New College took place on Nov. 18 at the Harry Sudakoff Center and the Academic Center of Excellence (ACE) Plaza. White and blue balloons covered ACE Plaza while white and blue collegiate shirts were passed out to prospective students.
“I really enjoyed meeting all of the prospies!” Student Admissions Representative (STAR) and third-year student Eleni Spanolios said. “One of them told me that New College was their first-choice school and it was amazing to see how excited they were to interact with the community.”
STARs were in charge of giving tours, directing families to and from different sessions as well as hosting a panel. The panel took place at 1 p.m. and included STAR and NCSA Chief of Staff (CoS) Katie Thurson and Bible Club President Alex Botoroff. Some of the questions were about academics, the political climate of the campus and study-abroad options.
During the event, faculty and students representing different Area of Concentrations (AOCS) held booths where students and families could ask questions. The event was catered by Metz Culinary Management, the food service provider for NCF. Afterwards, different clubs and organizations, such as the Black Student Union (BSU) or the Toastmasters Club, held booths where they encouraged prospective students to get involved with the school’s community.
“I think that it’s good to have current students attend these events,” NCSA Vice President of Relations and Financial Affairs (VPRFA) and third-year student Riley Lewis said. “Before coming here, I went on a tour and it wasn’t what sold me on this school. I would have liked having something like this when I was considering going here.”
Overall, the amount of prospective students is indicative of the size the school plans to grow with the New College Growth Plan underway.
“We were expecting over 425 visitors, which is half our campus,” Spanolios said. “It was wild to see how big our school could grow.”