Lion Pride Preview gave prospective students a chance to visit campus.
Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar
Lion Pride Preview was organized last week to help prospective students gear up for being part of the university in the near future. The event is an opportunity for interested students to visit and get firsthand experience of the university.
“Lion Pride Preview is our premiere on campus event to recruit students,” said Mike Rivault, Interim Director of Admissions. “Students come and they get a feel for the campus. They get to eat in the Mane Dish, so they know what the facilities are like. It just gives them kind of a feel of walking around and what it’s gonna be like to be a Southeastern student.”
Rivault feels the event is an essential part of the university’s recruiting process.
“A lot of students who have already applied come, but a lot of students who have not made their mind up come as well,” said Rivault. “It’s a really important part of our recruiting process.”
Daryl Julien, an orientation leader, described his role in the event and feels the preview is an occasion where the university can gain more exposure.
“People that are out here are basically seniors at high school,” said Julien. “So I gave tours of Fayard Hall which is the communication and art type of area. I helped around, got things together, talked to students. It’s important because it gets the word out about Southeastern. Basically, what we’re here for is to give students ideas of what they’re looking forward to coming to Southeastern.”
The preview had different sessions that reflected different aspects of the university to the students.
“We have an opening session that goes over basic information about the university,” said Rivault. “Dr. Crain came and welcomed everybody this morning. After that, we have sessions of Student Life, ROTC, how to pay for college and the Honors program. Those go on in two different sessions. After that, we do tours and we have a quick tour that goes just around core part of campus. They just get a feel for where most time is spent for most people on campus.”
There were some new additions to this year’s preview.
“We have each academic college open one of their buildings for students to look in a classroom and a lab,” said Rivault. “A lot of students who come on tours or come to events want to see classrooms. So this year, that’s new. We’re able to open classrooms to look at, so if they wanna be a nursing major, they get to go in the nursing building and just look at a classroom, look at a lab and see the building itself, same thing for four other colleges.”
Rivault also explained the procedures that go towards attracting the students and spreading awareness of the event.
“We have a database of students that have expressed interest either by going to a college fair or talking to us at their high school,” said Rivault. “We have a database of thousands of students that we communicate directly with. We are also at recruiting events, we’re at college fairs, we’re at high schools, we bring a brochure that describes all the dates and what this was going to be about.”
The preview attracted various students. Some of them went along with their parents. They were impressed with the event and also expressed their reason for coming to the university.
“Yeah, it was pretty informative,” said Collin DiMaio, a senior at Fontainebleau High School. “The staffs were really helpful. It was just pretty straight forward. I like how close it is to where I live.”
The next Lion Pride Preview will be held on Friday, Dec. 2.
Lion Pride Preview gave prospective students a chance to visit campus. Assistant Campus Activities Board Coordinator Nick Elliott was one presenter during the event.
Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar
Lion Pride Preview gave prospective students a chance to visit campus. Assistant Director of Student Engagement Kyle Gallagher was one presenter during the event.
Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar
