By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
BGSU President Rodney Rogers gave the newest Falcons one of their first assignments. Speaking to more than 1,000 future students and their families and friends who were just starting their day on campus for orientation, he challenged them to have “meaningful” conversations with three people they had just met.
Sarah Thatcher, from Mansfield, got to tick one off her list when Rogers approached her, microphone in hand, as he concluded his talk.
Where was she from? Mansfield. What high school? Lexington. What did she plan to major in? Marine biology.
Why? Because her family had traveled to North Carolina on a vacation last summer, and she became fascinated by turtles.
And she was looking forward to attending BGSU to help her realize that dream.
Thatcher, who was attending with her parents Gregg and Shannon Thatcher, was one of 300 incoming students on campus for the third orientation session of the summer.
The incoming students with their entourages packed the ballroom in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union.
For BGSU, this is a hopeful sign, just one of several pointing to an increased enrollment. Throughout the enrollment process, the university has seen 10% increases, said Cecilia Castellano, vice president of enrollment management. That includes applications and those who have committed to attending.
That puts BGSU on the path to welcome more than 4,000 students in the fall, she said.
The university will host 14 orientation sessions this summer. Most will be completed by the end of June with two scheduled in August right before classes start. There will be a break when Buckeye Girls State comes to campus June 9 through June 15 and occupies the student union.
Sarah Joslyn, director of orientation and transitions, said running a successful orientation requires collaboration across campus. She wants to makes sure BGSU provides a “robust day” of activities that everyone, students and parents, feel are useful.
The university’s life design program had a place of pride in the opening session. Rogers mentioned it, and Adrienne L. Ausdenmoore, executive director of College and Life Design, gave a presentation.
Rogers told them that the university was ready to prepare them to take the next steps beyond college.
That philosophy is what attracted Vanessa Lopez, from Sylvania, to BGSU. A neighbor attends BGSU, and the neighbor has told her that the university provides many opportunities that enhance not just the college experience but will also lead to a career after she gets her diploma.
Lopez said she will major in business, though she hasn’t narrowed down on what concentration. She also wants to minor in political science.
She was looking forward to learning more about those opportunities during orientation. “I want to get involved in as much as I can,” Lopez said.
She was sitting with Gaby Meyer, who will be her roommate this year. They had met through the room assignment process. Meyer choose BGSU in part because she wanted a school away from her hometown Buffalo, New York, which is about four and half hours away.
When she visited campus, it “felt like home,” she said. “The campus was so clean, and the people were so nice. They made you feel comforted and safe.”
She’ll be majoring in interior design.
Silas Green, from Bowling Green, was attracted to BGSU because it was close and offered construction management.
His mother, Kenzi Clouse, said he had looked at the University of Cincinnati for the same program but the proximity to home and the scholarships provided by BGSU, tipped the scales to the hometown school.
His father, Gar Green, said they hoped to get more acquainted with campus and help their son start becoming engaged with what the university offers.
After the opening session, the students headed off in small groups and their family and friends stayed behind in the ballroom. Joslyn assured them they would be reunited later in the day.
The new students did get another assignment though. Tyler Bills, coordinator of spirit programs, had them make a pledge to practice “Ay Ziggy Zoomba” before they arrived on campus in August so they will be ready to add their voices to the Falcon flock.
