Tuesday, February 26, 2013

[294] Record 500-plus attend MTSU Honors College open house



News and Media Relations contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu
MTSU Honors College contact: Laura Clippard, 615-898-5464 or Laura.Clippard@mtsu.edu

MURFREESBORO — From as far away as Missouri and New York City, a record 500-plus people attended the fourth annual University Honors College Presidents’ Day Open House on Feb. 18.

The open house, which has become a campus tradition, welcomes prospective students — from freshmen to high school seniors — to gain a glimpse of campus on a day when most of them are out for a school holiday. Family members joined them on the visit.

Dean John Vile and Laura Clippard, undergraduate fellowships coordinator and event organizer, said they were extremely pleased with the turnout.

For Kaleb King, expected to sign to play baseball for the Blue Raiders and a 2013-14 Honors College Buchanan Fellow, it marked his third visit to campus.

“I found this (the Honors College) through Coach (Jim) McGuire when I came for a visit,” said King, a pitcher and outfielder for St. Louis University High. “This (Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building) is a really nice building. I like how the Honors College classes are small.”

King, who was visiting with his father, Greg King, said he is undecided on a major.

Shelley Cobb of Antioch, Tenn., also a 2013-14 Buchanan Fellow, said she plans to major in biology with a pre-med track.

“This has been really good,” said Cobb, s senior at Hume-Fogg Academic High School in Nashville, talking about the visit. “I went to the Buchanan breakfast, which was real personalized. I talked to a current Buchanan Fellow.”

Visiting with her parents, Carol and Gregory Cobb, both 1984 MTSU alumni, Shelley Cobb said the visit allowed her “to get to know a lot about the school I didn’t know.” Her new knowledge included learning more about the Buchanan Fellowship, touring the Honors College, discovering the advantage of being in the Honors College and being able to study abroad.

Aiman Farooqui, a senior at Cambridge High School in Milton, Ga., near Alpharetta, said he plans to study pre-engineering with a mechanical engineering emphasis. He and his mother, Iffat, attended the open house and were awaiting the arrival of his father.

Since his father, Hassan Farooqui, has taken a job in Franklin, Tenn., Aiman Farooqui said he is “very likely to come here (to attend MTSU). I find the school very interesting. It has what I need, plus it is close to where my dad works.”

Knoxville Catholic junior Bailey Poteet, who said she plans to be a psychology major, made MTSU her first college visit with her parents, Rhae Nell and Steve Poteet.

“I like it,” she said of the campus visit. “I like how there’s people you can talk to (in the departments).”

New York City-based Shiloh, a not-for-profit Christian organization dedicated to equipping at-risk youth with tools to build hope, brought eight students to MTSU. They are touring other campuses as well.

Clippard said the schedule provided a mixture of information about MTSU, educational events and fun activities. Lunch was provided and optional tours included campus and housing, mass communication, the aerospace air-traffic control lab and nursing. Other activities include a mad science event, a mock trial demonstration and Honors College tours.

The Honors College offers lots of advantages to students and their families, Clippard added. It fosters the academic excellence and nurturing environment of a small, select, private, liberal-arts college within the setting of a major university. The free exchange of ideas and the opportunity to learn from one another in small classes taught by expert faculty make the Honors College experience rich and meaningful.

For more information, email Laura.Clippard@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-5464.

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