Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Officials at Mississippi State's Welcome Center are expecting another banner year for tours, due to a variety of factors generating a steady increase in campus guests.
Located in the Cullis Wade Depot near the State Highway 12 Bypass along the west side of campus, the center serves as the "front door" to what long has been dubbed "The People's University."
Since opening in 2007, the Maroon Visitor Information Program has welcomed about 1,500 guests annually, said center coordinator Meredith Pittman.
"The first impression we want people to get is that we love MSU and there is something special about being a Bulldog," Pittman explained. "And, when their tour is over, we want them to leave knowing what that something is that sets us apart from all other universities."
Pittman attributes a continuing rise in visitors to several factors, including success in athletics and enrollment growth.
She said 45 students are selected each spring to serve as greeters and guides. While providing free tours around the 830-acre central campus area, the students share history and traditions distinctive to the 131-year-old land-grant institution, she added.
Riding and walking visits are scheduled Monday-Friday for individuals or groups. The Maroon VIP schedule includes:
--The Campus Tour, which combines an overall introduction to facilities and locales with interesting institutional facts and traditions;
--The Historical Tour, a showcase of nearly 20 designated historic sites and widely known points of interest;
--The Horticultural Tour, with the choice of either motorized or walking trips led by members of the plant and soil sciences department to major landmarks, gardens, wetlands; and
--The Children's Tour, a day of interactive activities encompassing scavenger hunts, an archaeological dig, games, and other activities designed both to engage children's interests and teach them about history and traditions that make MSU unique.
Pittman said specific visits also may be arranged to the various athletic facilities, Mitchell Memorial Library's John Grisham Room and Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum, geosciences department's Dunn-Seiler Geological Museum, and Cobb Institute Museum of Archaeology.
For more information or to schedule an MSU tour, contact Wanda Eck at
662-325-5203 or www.visit.msstate.edu/.