As a freshman, my overnight visit was not too long ago. Luckily for me, I have known my host since the third grade, but still felt awkward in the new environment. My awkwardness quickly subsided as my host took me to a Greek house and, without the use of alcohol, I have never felt so welcomed in my life.
It was that night that I learned that DePauw loves prospective students, and no one loves them more than Greek members. Recently, some students have been advised to keep prospective students away from Greek property and I feel very sorry to those students who did not visit one of DePauw’s Greek houses.
An overnight visit is one of the most important factors to many students in deciding their college. DePauw happily, and rightfully, will expose them to our fantastic facilities such as Julian Science Center or Hoover Dining Hall and explain our honors programs and overall academics. Students are given an opportunity to experience a class or eat in our dining hall, but are now discouraged to experience Greek life.
With over 70 percent of our students in Greek life, DePauw is ranked top 20 in the country (Niche.com and Bestcollegereviews.com) and even as high as third in all the colleges in the United States (Collegemagazine.com). Greek life is not the only recruiting highlight for DePauw, but I firmly believe that it should be one of the most prominent when explaining to prospective students what DePauw is like and allow them to experience it firsthand.
On behalf of all Tiger hosts, please no more Wednesday overnights where prospective students watch us study.