Jamie Watson has been the event coordinator for the Admissions Department for less than two months, but that does not mean Honor Scholars Weekend will fail to meet high expectations. As always, students will take tests in hopes for a scholarship while also getting real experience with campus life. For some, Honors Scholarship Weekend will be the first campus visit. For all, the weekend is crucial as the May 1 deadline approaches, by which many high school seniors make the first important decision of their lives, choosing a college.
There are no major changes in the planning except for a highlighting of housing options. Beyond the usual campus tours there will be tours of fraternities and dormitories. Also, the prospective students and their parents will be addressed not only by President White and Student Body President Jesse James, but also by Inter-Fraternity Council President Jason Siegel and Independent Men’s Association President Shawn Crane. Siegel and Crane will not compare the two lifestyles. Rather, they will educate prospective students on the available choices in order to enable informed housing decisions. Watson noted that most prospective students will be housed in fraternities as logistics dictate such.
Watson said that the biggest challenge in planning the event is the sheer number of guests. The campus is expected to accommodate nearly 150 percent of its population. This leads to the problem of getting so many people to realize that Wabash operates on a personal level.
“I want them to know this a good caring place top to bottom,” Watson said. She would know, since before working for admissions, she has worked with the college in recruiting first generation college students for ten years. She has lived in Crawfordsville for over twenty-five years with her husband, Dwight Watson, Professor of Theater and Chairman of Division II.
The Admissions Department asked Watson this year to help review applications by the admissions department and enjoyed the work. When the position of Senior Assistant Director of Admissions became available, Watson was intrigued, saying the department had “Lots of energy; lots of diversity.”
“[I may be] new to admissions, but I have a stake in the College,” she said. She has now made it her job to encourage others to have a stake in its future.