On Friday, Oct. 5, more than 500 prospective students and their families will converge on the University Center for the first of four scheduled Discover UNC events this academic year. While the Office of Admissions has nearly doubled the number of group visit days this year, and added (and filled) a half dozen specialty weekend tours this fall, Discover UNC remains the biggest star on the visit day calendar at UNC.

"This is our biggest and arguably most important event of the year," says Sean Broghammer, director of admissions. "This is very often the day when students choose UNC. This year, we’re doing everything in our power to continue to make that kind of magic happen."

The event’s home base is upstairs at the UC from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with speakers and breakout sessions. Students and their guests will also be touring campus, classrooms and residence halls; sitting down to lunch in Holmes Dining Hall and Tobey-Kendall; and gathering information at the program fair in the ballrooms before lunch. A few changes this year include welcoming visitors to classroom presentations in every college; alumni testimonials; and much more. President Andy Feinstein will also personally welcome families to campus, along with Klawz, the UNC mascot.

As Feinstein said on his Twitter account recently, "Discover UNC is the place to be on Oct. 5. Looking forward to helping students do just that ... Discover UNC. See you there!"

Faculty, staff and students are being asked to join in helping welcome these visitors to campus (they will be noticeable, in part, because most of the students will be carrying a gold UNC plastic bag). Faculty and staff, many of whom often sport UNC – and blue and gold – gear on Fridays, are being asked to continue to do so. Campus is also being asked to avoid parking on Friday in the University Center parking lot or the lot directly across from the new Campus Commons. (Faculty and staff should have received an email from Sean Broghammer on Friday where he shared these and related requests.)

To incentivize participation, University Relations and the university’s social media ambassadors (all current students) will be surveying current UNC Bears to hear about their engagement in the event. The goal is to have half of all faculty and staff support the event through their attire and activities welcoming these guests to campus. We’ll update you on their efforts post-event.

Want to do more for Discover UNC? Reach out to Whitney Bonner in the Office of Admissions at Whitney.Bonner@unco.edu.