Potential Patriots gather at the UC to talk to different departments
Prospective students gathered to learn about FMU’s majors, amenities and campus life on Jan. 21 in the University Center (UC) commons, followed by a presentation given by FMU President Luther Carter in the Chapman Auditorium located within the McNair Science Building.
200 people signed up for the open house beforehand, and 98 of those 200 were to be students. The final count, according to FMU diplomat Brailey Sloan, totaled around 60 people – 27 of those being students.
“We put all of this time and resources to accommodate things for 200 people,” Sloan, a sophomore history major, said. “Like we had enough food for 200 people but we had 60 people show up, so we had a surplus of food that didn’t get eaten.”
The event began at 9 a.m. with tables in the UC featuring the different majors available at FMU as well as tables for the Center for Academic Success and Advisement and for financial aid. Free breakfast was provided, but as with lunch, there was a surplus left over.
Around 10 a.m. attendees walked into the Chapman Auditorium where, alongside President Carter, Provost Peter King spoke.
“There’s a close intimacy on this campus among our student body,” President Carter said. “It’s about what you would expect from a campus this size. They’re very close with their professors, and that relationship essentially carries over to certain kinds of activities and exercises outside of the classroom. But, most critically, it benefits them inside the classroom.”
President Carter also spoke on the number of new buildings that FMU has built and will build in upcoming years: a fourth medical building downtown, an environmental and forestry building and a school of business and education across from the Lee Nursing Building.
“I’ll tell you this: every single one of those buildings has been paid for,” President Carter said. “The money’s been raised privately or acquired from the state of South Carolina. No student tuition will be taxed as a result of those new buildings.”
The attendees were split into groups according to the major that interested them most. These breakout sessions were hosted by FMU faculty. The attendees chose the group they would attend beforehand but were able to make changes if they saw a major that better suited them. After the major-focused sessions, attendees were able to join sessions that related to subjects such as
athletics and financial assistance.
“The professors were expecting a lot more people to be in the session than were actually in the sessions,” Sloan said. “So, a lot of them ended early because the professors had scheduled for more time for people to ask questions… But other than that, it went pretty well, pretty smoothly.”
The event ended around noon when lunch was served, but according to Sloan, due to campus tours offered after the open house, people remained on campus until 2 p.m.
There will be three more open houses to take place during the 2023 spring semester. FMU usually schedules only three per semester, but an extra open house was added to regulate the increased flow of people seen in the 2022 fall semester. Registration for upcoming open houses can be found on the FMU website.
