Glendon donned its Sunday best on a bright autumn day early last month. It was a perfect backdrop for the historic Glendon Manor as the campus welcomed some 1,200 guests (a record number) to its annual Fall Campus Day, Nov. 8. Student ambassadors, student volunteers, staff and faculty members turned out in droves, contributing their time and knowledge to the event. The families who flocked to campus felt a palpable sense of excitement and enthusiasm.
The Fall Campus Day was arranged to be flexible, allowing guests an opportunity to create an personalised experience. Mix and match presentations, campus tours, a residence open house, two information fairs and more were all part of the day. While some decided to start their day with a campus tour, others opted to visit the academics fair to chat with professors about their programs, attend an information session to help prepare them for the admissions process or their academic path, sample a mini-lecture given by neuropsychologist and Glendon Professor Guy Proulx, or test their language skills with Frabble (French Scrabble!) in the Centre of Excellence.
Prospective students and their parents commented on how much of Glendon’s distinct small campus personality had been injected into the event. Careful attention to details helped to make a world of difference. Glendon alumna Esther Phua’s music welcoming guests into the Centre of Excellence, the breakfast spread of pastries and hot chocolate with marshmallows, and Principal Donald Ipperciel’s friendly conversation with passers-by all served to radiate Glendon’s characteristic warmth and community.
Several guests had previously attended high-school presentations from Glendon or had chatted with the team at the Ontario Universities’ Fair that took place in September; they voiced their excitement to see familiar faces from previous events and from Glendon’s student blogger team, the eAmbassadors. Around the Centre of Excellence, friendly faces could be found giving away freshly-baked cookies, sharing their experiences of Glendon, or serving vegan popcorn, an annual open house favourite.
The student tour guide team worked tirelessly to conduct a record number of campus tours to some of the largest groups ever seen in Glendon history. Available in English and French, the tours guided guests through the historic grounds while the student guides shared some of the campus’ history and points of distinction with their own anecdotes and experiences added.
Before leaving, visitors relayed their lasting impressions of the Fall Campus Day and the Glendon campus. Many indicated they found Glendon to be more than simply a centre of academic atmosphere or a hub of bilingualism. Here, they said they had a taste of the community and the people that belong to it, with many promising to come back for another visit.
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For more photos, view Glendon’s Storify of the event.