Following the release of admissions decisions in late March, prospective students were invited to attend Days on the Lawn from the end of March and throughout April. Days on the Lawn is the University’s program to give admitted students a preview of life at the University through info sessions, walking tours of Grounds and a dining hall food experience.
Given the University’s presence in national media spotlight in the past year, Days on the Lawn volunteers expected tough questions about controversial events from concerned parents and students. Fourth-year College student Eleanor Daugherty, Days on the Lawn co-chair, said volunteers were prepared to answer these questions in a reassuring but honest way.
“We just explained to the students everything that’s going on so that they would be equipped to answer,” Daugherty said. “We explained what the police are doing with that new substation on the corner, we explained what all the new fraternity rules are [and] what the Green Dot is.”
Third-year College student Patrick Kelly, who served on the student panel during Days on the Lawn, said he planned on emphasizing the positive side of recent events.
“If I was asked about it I would just say that the recent events were pretty traumatic here,” Kelly said. “But in some ways it’s a good thing because it’s brought the community together and pushed U.Va. to the forefront of college student safety.”
Daugherty said volunteers coordinated with the University to present a united front despite the trying times the University has faced.
“We coordinated with the admissions office to get what they were officially saying so that we weren’t saying anything different, and then we really just laid it all out,” Daugherty said. “We really told them to be honest. If you don’t feel safe at night tell the parents that but tell them why.”
Kelly said that overall, volunteers received very few questions about the University’s presence in the media. At a prospective student panel, questions revolved around classes, dorm life and extracurricular activities.
“The panel questions have mostly focused on nervousness and academics,” Kelly said.
Similarly, other tour leaders and other volunteers said they were surprised they did not receive many questions on the University’s recent media prominence.
“The overarching questions is: ‘why do you like it here?’” Daugherty said. “They want to know what our personal story is and what drew us to U.Va. They ask, ‘How do you like your department that your major is in?’ I studied abroad so they ask a lot of questions about that. They ask what I liked about my first year dorm, how the food [is]. It’s really kind of generic stuff.”
Kelly said parents tended to be more skeptical than students and raised deeper concerns about the controversies that surrounded the University.
”I was eating lunch and one of the moms came up to me and asked, ‘Is this school safe?’” Kelly said. “I know there have been a lot of traumatic events that have occurred in the recent past, but to be honest, that doesn’t represent what U.Va. is.”
Daugherty said prospective students do not seem troubled by the unfortunate events and still appear enthusiastic about attending the University.
“Most of the students here are here because they’re deciding between this and other schools,” Daugherty said. “There are a bunch of students who’ve decided not to come because of everything, but they’re not here. The students who are here are trying to come in with an open mind and get all of the information.”
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