Purple and Gold Days

By: Anna Wertman, Brandon McCartney, Josh Scharpenberg, Emily Yerge, Yuka Battulga

College. A place where a young person is given the opportunity to decide their future. But, how does that young person decide which college they are going to attend? 

Often, a college visit is the deciding factor when it comes to a high school student finding the perfect college. According to Justine Rebecca Okerson’s Dissertation on college choice and campus visits, research has shown that a student who visits a college campus is twice as likely to be enrolled at that university than a student who doesn’t visit prior to applying. 

Although every University offers campus tours of some sort, Olivet Nazarene University takes it a step further. They not only offer campus tours, they also offer Purple and Gold Days to prospective students. 

Open to both high school seniors, and college transfer students, a Purple and Gold Day visit consists of meals in the cafeteria, campus tours, meetings with admissions counselors, and much more.

The admissions team provide an ‘Olivet’ backdrop for possible students like these

to take a photo of their purple and gold day visit on 03/05/21.

In the past, Purple and Gold Days were a weekend affair; allowing prospective students the opportunity to spend the night in a campus residence hall, and multiple days of the college experience. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Purple and Gold Day looks quite a bit different. According to the Olivet Nazarene University website, a current Purple and Gold Day schedule may look something like this graphic. 

Behind the scenes of Admissions Staff

For an event such as Purple and Gold day to run smoothly, there are many people at work behind the scenes. 

Emily Belschner, Graduate Assistant of Guest Services, plays a large role in the planning and execution of Purple and Gold Days. As the Event Coordinator for Purple and Gold Days, Belschner handles quite a bit of preparation before the event can ever take place. 

“What my role looks like beforehand is taking registrations, making sure we get meetings for each of the students that they’re interested in… and put together individualized schedules for each student.”

Emily Belschner

During the course of a Purple and Gold Day, each prospective student is given the opportunity to meet with a Professor in their field of interest, or a coach in their preferred sport. In addition to those meetings, the parents of students are offered a bit more peace of mind in a financial aid meeting. 

Although Belschner wasn’t able to attend a Purple and Gold Day as a student, she has made up for that missed time. She was able to work with Purple and Gold Days as a Student Ambassador in the Office of Admissions, and now as a Graduate Assistant. Throughout her time working with Purple and Gold Days, she has concluded that her favorite part of Purple and Gold Day is simply “the environment and the energy around the office.”

03/05/21 Purple and Gold Day Highlights.

Admissions Ambassadors

There is one specific group of people Olivet’s Purple and Gold Days could not function without; the Admissions Ambassadors. These individuals are current Olivet students who work in Admissions as the face of Olivet. They lead campus tours, send handwritten notes to prospective students, and are always willing to tell you why they “Believe You Belong” at Olivet. These students have an active role in every part of Purple and Gold Days. 

Liam Paschen is a Senior Admissions Ambassador at Olivet. His specific role during Purple and Gold Days is to give dorm tours, but other Admissions Ambassadors play different roles throughout the day. Some Admissions Ambassadors play a larger role before the Purple and Gold Days even take place. Some students run call lines, others help with email campaigns, and still others send handwritten notes to potential students. 

Though he enjoys every aspect of working with Purple and Gold Days, Paschen’s favorite part is the change in parents’ and students’ demeanor as the day progresses.

“At the beginning of the day, you know, they come in and they’re a little anxious… You can kind of see the stress and anxiety. Then throughout the day, as they go through their meetings; as they’re able to talk to ambassadors and counselors, and get their questions answered, you can visibly see them relaxing. By the end of the day, in a large part, it is all laughs and smiles.”

Liam Paschen

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Pandemic Response

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every single part of life in the United States of America. Olivet Nazarene University was no exception. In a time such as this, they were required to adapt. One of the ways they did this was through making Purple and Gold Day a one-day experience. They also had to limit the number of students at each event, which actually led to them adding more Purple and Gold Days than they previously planned to have. 

“A lot of the other private Christian Universities look to us (Olivet) as a first mover,” Paschen said.

Many other Universities are still doing completely virtual tours. Olivet, on the other hand, is giving potential students the opportunity to see the campus in person, while still remaining safe.