Since the Ambassador Program began a year and a half ago, establishing a connection between current University students and prospective students has been at the core of its mission.
However, with a new focus on multicultural recruitment this year, six of the 25 ambassadors will also have another goal — attracting more students of color to the University.
These six ambassadors, called multicultural recruiters, were hired last spring as part of a larger effort by the University Office of Admissions to attract a more diverse student body.
Cora Bennett, the interim director for the Ambassador Program, said the multicultural recruiters will act in much the same capacity as other ambassadors. Like other members of the orientation staff, she said, they will give campus tours, help with orientation sessions and call high school students throughout the year.
In addition to the training other ambassadors receive, multicultural recruiters will be trained specifically for recruiting students of color, Bennett said. For example, multicultural recruiters will have extensive knowledge of diversity scholarships and other campus resources available to students of color.
These new ambassadors will also work closely with the recently hired Tomas Hulick of the Office of Admissions, she said.
Nelly Ganesan, one of two student directors for the Ambassador Program, said multicultural recruiters were selected because of their knowledge of campus resources and organizations, as well as for their desire to recruit a more diverse student body.
Psith Kong, a junior and third-year ambassador, is one of the multicultural recruiters. While all ambassadors will work with students of color, she said, the multicultural recruiters will be a resource other ambassadors can turn to when they need more in-depth information about diversity programs on campus.
Kong said the recruiters are “the voice for students of color.”
The admissions office will give multicultural recruiters a list of students to call, Bennett said. Names on that list are often compiled through ethnic background information provided by students on SAT tests and information cards, she said.
One of the first goals of the multicultural recruiters will be to encourage students of color to attend Duck Preview Day, an orientation session held at the end of October. In the past, Bennett said, those who attend the event have “typically been 1800 students who are white.”
This year, the program will put on four workshops during the session aimed at students of students of color, she said.
The old “Gateway,” a one-day orientation session aimed at students of color, has also been replaced with seven monthly sessions called “Connections,” Bennett said, in order to provide more opportunities for multicultural recruitment.
Multicultural recruiters are concentrating mostly on students from Oregon this year, as well as some students from Washington and California, Bennett said. Next year program coordinators plan to expand multicultural recruitment to other areas of the ambassadors’ territory as well.
Sophomore Nick Madani, another multicultural recruiter, is new to the Ambassador staff this year. He said he decided to apply for the position because diversity “adds more life to the campus.”
“We can learn more from each other when we meet people from other places,” he said.