Vandal Friday began in 1995 as a one-day event with about 200 prospective students. Now, 15,000 prospective students participate in an event that has expanded to several days.
Katy Kithcart | Argonaut
Potential students take a tour of the University of Idaho as part of Vandal Friday, a two-day event welcoming potential students to the campus. The potential students take tours, register for classes and have the opportunity to spend the night on campus.
Prior to the start of Vandal Friday, groups of students were coming to visit the campus during spring break. But because of the volume of students and lack of staff, they or their parents weren’t receiving the information they needed, said Lori Krasselt, former visitation coordinator of New Student Services and one of the original committee members for the formation of Vandal Friday.
Vandal Friday was founded to give students an opportunity to get to know the university and provide information they would need to become part of the Vandal family, Krasselt said.
“We provide opportunities for students to know everything they need to know for making a decision on what college to go to,” said Angela Helmke, associate director of admissions and co-coordinator of Vandal Friday.
Many business-type opportunities are provided for students, she said, such as figuring out financial aid, a payment plan, health insurance, registering for classes and getting a Vandal Card.
“I didn’t know I had to register for classes, but it was nice to get a head start and there were a lot of people who helped me with choosing those classes,” said Taylor Maloney, a current sophomore who attended Vandal Friday as a high school student. “It made me feel more comfortable about coming in the fall.”
Maloney’s decision to come to UI was thanks to her experience at Vandal Friday.
“I didn’t want to go because I had just been to a college visit the day before and was set on going there. But my mom made me because she’s an alumni and it is what changed my mind to go to UI,” she said.
Talking with an adviser and learning all the necessary information made the prospect of coming to UI more comfortable, Maloney said.
“It’s overwhelming, it’s the spring semester of their senior year, a busy time and we want to make it as easy as possible so you don’t have to be panicked,” Helmke said.
Vandal Friday also gives students an opportunity to find out where they want to live. The residence halls and Greek houses open their doors to give prospective students a chance to see what living in both places would be like.
For three current UI students, the experience persuaded them to go Greek.
“There was genuine sincerity from everybody and they all had great attitudes and were explaining the benefits really well,” said Ashley Cox, a UI sophomore. “They were helpful and no one was rude or trying to shove it down my throat, they were just explaining.”
For Ramsey Reed it was a different experience that yielded the same decision.
“I went to Memorial Gym where they were setting up a place to stay for the night,” he said. “I wanted to stay in the dorms but a guy, who is now a friend, told me to stay in a fraternity. That was what made me go Greek.”
Calla Records, a UI junior, stayed in a sorority both nights of Vandal Friday and became really excited about Greek life when she saw the Greek skits. She said she didn’t know any other school that put on a performance like that.
“It’s a great way to see the university in an informal setting of what it would be like to be a student here,” Cox said.
Emily Aizawa can be reached at [email protected]