Checking out Eastern.

Almost 100 students from Copper Hills High School in West Jordan were on campus Sept. 24, checking out USU Eastern and its community.

Agustin “Tino” Diaz, admissions adviser for enrollment services, invited specific organizations such as the Black Student Union, Latinos in Action, People of the Pacific and others who demonstrated interest in attending USU Eastern to campus for a day.
Diaz said the purpose was to begin recruiting for the institution at a targeted level. “Universal outreach is great, but it’s stronger and more personal when it’s built specifically to a certain niche.

“Our goal is to develop and strengthen our outreach to first generation and low-income students, as well as students of color from various communities. These students in our opinion would be best served at our institution as we continue creating and sustaining the resources needed to host them.”

USU Eastern is going after a certain niche of student because, Diaz said, “As we closely look at Utah’s rising demographic of students, we find that there is a rising tide of low income and first generation students.

“On top of that, a more diverse population in terms of communities of color is also arriving to Utah. We ought to be ready to work with these populations and this trip or form of outreach was just the first step in many to come.”

He chose to bring students from Copper Hills because its demographics make up one of the biggest high schools and one of the biggest sites to low income and first generation diverse populations in Utah. 

It took an army of vehicles to pick all the students from West Jordan and bring them to Price and back. A 50-passenger bus, two mini busses and even some smaller vans were used to transport students.

Diaz is excited over the new recruiting concept. He said, “Surveys were distributed to each student who took part in the experience and we received an overwhelming positive response. Counselors said we set the bar and so far, no college has met that bar. What they enjoyed most apparently was the interaction with our student leaders.

He hopes to continue to bring more students to campus with Hunter and Granger high schools already planning to attend. Plus the list could go on as he hopes Mountain View, Pleasant Grove and many other high schools will follow.