Program sets new record
By Carmen Castro
Staff Reporter

With 195 prospective students attending the monthly Monday at TCU this week, the program set a new record of student attendance, said Carrie Wright-Brown, admissions coordinator of Monday at TCU.

The university hosts Monday at TCU from September to April. Last month, the event broke the previous record of 525 total participants, which includes both prospective students and their parents, who came to experience the campus for a day, Wright-Brown said.

Monday at TCU has grown drastically since its advent in the mid-1980s.

Jim Atwood, assistant to the dean of admissions, said Monday at TCU continues to be popular because admissions counselors enthusiastically recommend it to students.

“In all of our contacts with students, college night programs, high school visits, calling and writing students, etc., we encourage visiting the colleges in which the student may have an interest,” Atwood said.

The program evolved from the Friday on Campus program established in 1976, which had a weekend, party atmosphere that interfered with the number of TCU students willing to lodge high school students the night before the all-day event, said former Associate Dean of Admissions Janet George Herald.

Wright-Brown, along with the Student Foundation and the TCU Ambassadors, organized Monday at TCU, which includes a campus tour, as well as a residence hall tour, breakfast and lunch on campus, special interest sessions and meetings with faculty and financial aid representatives.

Barry Hough and his daughter Allison, a high school senior, drove to TCU from Oklahoma City.

“It’s surprising to see such a crowd,” Hough said. “Last summer, we came to visit, and it was nothing like this.”

Allison Hough said she was really excited and interested since she has friends who have already attended.

The campus tours are led by paid Student Foundation members and volunteer TCU Ambassadors.

In addition to the campus tours, Student Foundation members also serve on student discussion panels, said Rebecca Hensley, a senior nursing major and Student Foundation director of recruitment.

Eric Fare, president of Student Foundation, said he’s surprised with the program’s popularity.

“I am amazed at the amount of growth that Monday at TCU has experienced in recent years,” said Fare, a senior marketing and finance major. “Time and time again, I hear wonderful reports from prospective students and their parents after their tour with us.”

The Student Foundation is currently accepting applications to find students that can help promote the university.

Sixty-three ambassadors signed up to help out during at least one session of the day’s event, said Sara Blackwood, TCU Ambassadors director of Monday at TCU and a junior art history major.