This weekend, over one hundred accepted students will be visiting the campus. Betsy Rutledge, Assistant Director of Admission Events and Office Operations, explained “We expect that number to keep growing right up until the event. It’s our biggest visit event of the year.”
Prospective students will have the opportunity to attend meals, classes, meetings and events similar to those available to current students. According to Rutledge, “All things Houghton students do daily. We want them to be able to envision themselves as Highlanders, asking themselves, ‘Is this the place for me for the next four years?’”
According to the schedule provided visiting to students on the college website, the students will be occupied from registration Thursday evening to Saturday morning departure.
Rutledge explained during their packed weekend at Houghton, visiting students can “visit classes in their major area, meet with faculty during the department receptions, attend chapel, have breakfast with Provost Connell, watch a movie in the KPAC Field House, tour campus, go on a photo scavenger hunt, get an in-depth tour of the residence halls led by the RDs and RAs, play games, customize t-shirts, talk with various campus group leaders, attend a worship night, and go to our After Party dance in the Nielsen Center. Many of these activities will be available for current students too, and we hope everyone will attend.”
“One of the hallmarks of the Houghton experience is the close friendships that current students form with each other. As a Houghton alum myself, I have seen first-hand the lifetime impact that these relationships have had,” Ryan Spear, Director of Admissions, explained. In the context of the upcoming weekend, he said “We wanted to provide prospective students the chance to experience a taste of that first-hand and begin to make those important connections and see how Houghton is an ideal place not only to receive a high-quality, Christ-centered education, but to make lasting connections.”
He emphasized the importance of connections not only between the new students, but with the rest of the campus. “To truly show students what a distinct college we are, it takes a whole team, admission, current students, faculty, administrators, staff members, you name it. It’s a pretty neat experience to see the entire campus come together and show the ‘Houghton hospitality’ that we have become known for.