By REBEKAH RAY

rlr017@latech.edu

 

Prospective students with alumni parents were given the chance to see what it is like to be a part of the Tech family when they attended Legacy Day Saturday.

Emily Steed, an admissions recruiter, who was primarily in charge of the event, said Legacy Day took the place of the Time Out for Tech that would normally be held during winter quarter.

“The thing about Legacy Day is that only students with at least one parent who graduated from Tech [could] attend,” Steed said. “Legacy Day is only for them. It’s not for any other students, so it’s kind of special for them.”

There were only 200 spots available for this first-time event.

The spots were filled within a month and a half after notice was given about Legacy Day in December.

Steed said Legacy Day’s two objectives were to attract the high school students to Tech while welcoming back their parents into the alumni circle.

“We hope that as alumni are back on campus and are presented with activities that are available to them, they will want to get more involved,” Steed said.

Nancy Diaz, a 1975 Tech alumnae, said, “I thought it was a cool thing for the university to do.”

“Obviously, all colleges and universities are looking for every bit of support they can get from alumni, so this is smart,” Diaz said.

Sarah Diaz, Nancy Diaz’s daughter, said, “I guess the way this day is set up is cool because my mom, my aunt and my grandmother all went here, so it’s neat to get to see the campus from this perspective.”

Guests were greeted in the first floor lobby of Wyly Tower of Learning by the student recruiter who was assigned to be their guide for the day.

Each family proceeded on an extended, personalized tour of the campus before meeting all together for an informational presentation that covered all current admissions criteria for new students.

Mary Carlton, a student recruiter and a junior speech major, provided the personal tour for Nancy and Sarah Diaz.

“I think [Legacy Day] was definitely a success,” Carlton said. “I think we should do it again next year. I know the family that I had enjoyed the alumni coming together and bringing their kids.”

Nancy Diaz said she liked having a day like this, just for alumni and their children.

“This is just a good opportunity to be back on campus and to get to look at it with [Sarah],” Nancy Diaz said. “There’s a lot about Tech that I know. I was a student here. But it feels really different to come back here as a parent.”

Steed said the Admissions Office will evaluate Legacy Day’s success during the spring as they decide whether to make it a regular winter-quarter event.

So far it looks likely that this first Legacy Day will not have been the last, Steed said.

Carlton said it appeared Legacy Day had fulfilled its purpose well.

Carlton saw, as Nancy Diaz told stories of her own experiences how the two were seeing Tech as “their own.”

“Tech was theirs,” Carlton said. “It wasn’t just ‘oh, this is this school that I’m thinking about going to,’ it was, ‘this is my Tech, this is where I want to go, my mom went here and this is her story.’”