College Preview Day set for students interested in attending Ohio HBCU

Central State University, 1400 Brush Row Road, Wilberforce, will hold its annual College Preview Day on Saturday, Oct. 28 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Madison W. Beacom/Gaston F. Lewis Gymnasium. Check-in will start at 8 a.m. 

Registration for the free event, which is open to the public, closes at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20.  

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The event allows attendees to learn about the University, speak with current students and faculty, and experience a typical day of college life. Lunch and a Marauder football game (vs. Lane College) are included.  

Activities throughout the day include academic showcases, where attendees can disperse to colleges of their choice for Q&A sessions and interactive lab experiences; information sessions on admissions, financial aid, and campus life and an overview of academic programs (including speakers from such departments as the Honors College); and a meet-and-greet with faculty, staff, and current students. 

For Curls Only is one student organization that attended last year's College Preview Day. The group aims to help members build healthy hair habits; learn to care for, love, and have confidence in natural hair; inform, enlighten, and share personal stories and Black hair history facts; and build a community surrounding natural hair. 

Attendees are encouraged to bring their official high school or college transcripts for on-the-spot acceptance contingent upon maintaining the academic requirements of Central State University.

Students of all ages who would like to take part in College Preview Day may make a reservation via Eventbrite.

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“We’re expecting students to come from everywhere,” said Director of Admissions and Recruitment Tammi Love, Ph.D. “Anywhere where we have a base or a mouthpiece.”

Love is confident that word about the event has gone out through multiple channels and such “mouthpieces” as alumni who remain true to their Centralian pride, helping in their own ways to recruit those whom they may feel to be a good fit for Central State. 

“We have a lot of alumni helping out because they love their alma mater,” Love said.

Her department nonetheless continues in its striving for further marketing pushes to ensure students of all regions and backgrounds around the nation and beyond will be aware of this upcoming event.

Other strategies the Admissions Department leverages include recruitment specialists assigned to specific territories. This ensures that, for instance, certain high schools are kept aware of both Central State and events such as College Preview Day.

Love suggests that students and families who want to offset the cost of lodging and travel expenses can often find opportunities for group rates and the like through their local Central State representatives. They can reach out through their high school counseling services or by contacting Central State to learn more. 

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“A lot of students who come are coming with alumni,” Assistant Director for Orientation and Campus Experience Nkem Onianwah said. “Alumni are bringing out many people by the busload. The wonderful thing about this is that many of them are able to target a lot of high schools throughout Ohio and farther off, as well, such as Michigan and Indiana. These are the places that we get the most students from.”

Onianwah noted that alumni often pay out of their own pocket to help students make it to College Preview Day.  

“It’s something that keeps the alumni connected with the school and the student base,” Onianwah said. “It’s a real family.”

College Preview Day has remained a “longstanding tradition,” in Onianwah’s words, due to its “giving students a chance to see what college life will be like. It also exhibits what resources the community at Central State has here. It’s about tradition and it’s about providing the students with what information we can about how they too can become Pirates (incoming students) and Marauders.” 

“I do think that Central State stands alone and holds its own,” Love said. “The uniqueness of Central State is that it does not live in a metropolis. There is a benefit to Central State sitting in the community it does sit in. The nature that surrounds it. The fact you can be in this setting and be able to focus on what you’re supposed to be doing while at college.” 

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Concurring with Onianwah, Love believes that “the ‘family feel’ is real here at Central State. A lot of other colleges brag about this kind of thing. But from my experience, this is one place that really gets it right. You feel it as soon as you walk onto the campus, as soon as you engage. Not every college can say this, and it be true. 

“This goes a long way for young people getting ready for the future,” Love concluded. “This way they can really understand and know what that support can be like before they go off into the world outside of college later on. And, as proven by our alumni, it’s also clear that once you graduate, you’ll still be connected.”   

For more information, contact Central State’s Office of Admissions at 937-376-6348 or admissions@centralstate.edu