Columbus’ East High School to host Central State University recruitment event

Above: South High School ambassadors and greeters at a 2022 Central State University recruiting event.

Columbus-based East High School (1500 E. Broad St.) will host a free two-hour recruitment event for graduating high school seniors interested in applying to and attending Central State University on Wednesday, Nov. 1. The gala runs from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  

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Attendees are encouraged to bring their official high school transcripts, as on-the-spot certificates of acceptance into Central State will be granted to eligible students.  

“The idea for the event was first brought to us from an alum who works for East High School,” said Tammi Love, Central State’s director of Admissions and Recruitment.  

East High School assistant principal Karen Carey graduated from Central State in 1990 after having majored in Business Education. Carey previously ran a Central State recruitment event in 2022 at the school where she formerly worked as assistant principal, Columbus’ South High School.

“Karen wanted to duplicate what she did last year at South, reached out to us to do it again this time at East High School, and we followed the footprint that was laid from the previous event, along with a few more pieces added,” Love said. “We’re adding more representation in the way of bringing in other departments which were not present last year, and we’re very excited about what’s coming up on Nov. 1.” 

Carey has invited seven other area high schools to send students who can attend the event.  Each school will bring an estimated 50 students. 

“She’s a passionate alum, and being an administrator, she recognizes the importance of presenting college options to high school students.” — Tammi Love

“She believes in Central State. And she wants to make sure students coming can see what the school has to offer to them," Love said.

The event will be primarily “information-driven,” Love detailed, with representatives set up at different tables from Central State’s four degree-conferring colleges and its Honors College ready to engage with attendees. Information tables will also be set up for members of the Invincible Marching Marauders and the Dancing Belles. Although the school band and dance troupe will not be performing, there will be a performance by the Grammy-nominated Central State University Chorus.

“It’s really like a mini-College Preview Day that we’re presenting at East High School,” Love said. “In addition to the information we’ll have available, we’ll also been encouraging those attending to come visit the Central State campus. Hopefully, they’ll love what they hear and see, and this will drive them to schedule a tour at our University.” 

Enrolling at Central State 

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As for on-site acceptance into Central State, Love elaborated that any high school senior attending the event who can show an official high school transcript proving they have been keeping up an un-weighted 2.2 GPA at minimum, will receive a certificate that guarantees admission, as long as that GPA is maintained or improved upon through the rest of the academic year. 

Love went on to say that Central State will furthermore look at and potentially offer merit scholarships for deserving students.  

“These scholarships are also contingent upon students keeping up their 2.2 GPA or higher,” Love said. “And we tell them that this is the first step, that they still have to fill out an application after they leave the event. There’s a QR code on the certificates we’re giving out that will take students directly to the online application form. Once they complete that app, then their acceptance will become official.” 

Noting that “word is getting out that we’re doing this,” Love said that more high schools are reaching out to Central State to host their own recruitment events. 

“This is good, because a lot of prospective students might not be able to make it out to Central State’s campus,” Love said. “This way — especially through our ample and supportive alumni network — we can reach these students who might be interested in applying here in their own backyard. It’s huge that our alumni are in places we can’t always make it out to in order to directly spread information about Central State.” 

Carey is one such Centralian whose Marauder pride is robust enough to motivate her to spearhead these recruitment events consistently. She has worked in the past at schools in both Columbus and New York as a teacher, having first become an administrator 15 years ago.  

“It’s important to me as an educator and as a first-generation high school graduate and first-generation college graduate,” Carey said. “This work is so important to me as a voice for kids who can see the potential which sits inside of them."

"I can be that voice and advocate that helps guide them to where they can go and what they can be when it comes to higher education, since they may not otherwise know.” — Karen Carey

Aside from being a Centralian, Carey explained that her passion for Central State also comes from the fact that when she was in high school herself, she was given a pamphlet for the Institution that showed “faces of students who looked like me and who made me feel like I would belong there. Kids coming here will get the opportunity to have close-knit relationships with faculty and staff, the additional support they need to become successful. This, along with the opportunity to face new challenges and to grow and evolve. 

“This event is a great way for prospective students to see Central State up close and personal,” Carey concluded. “It will help them with their decision-making as far as where they want to go to college, without it being ‘last-minute,’ and will help them to secure scholarships, too.” 

Carey said she hopes that the Central State recruitment event will become an annual occurrence at East High School.