Warren Wilson College Campus Tours: How Accurate Are They?
Becca Boynton | March 2, 2023
Ruby Jane Moser
Sydney Weber leading a tour group.
The Warren Wilson College (WWC) admissions office and Admissions Work Crew offer an educational excursion for prospective students interested in attending WWC. Within the nearly two-hour campus tour, students and their families learn facts about the college and intimate and individual experiences that enhance the tour-goer’s experience even more.
The crew, which consists of eight current WWC students, is given specific talking points for prospective students. This includes sustainability on campus, freshmen living and the WWC campus’s scenic terrain.
Unlike other colleges, tour guides loosely follow a script but depend especially on their personal experiences within WWC. Sydney Weber, a WWC freshman and Admissions Crew member, included many unique anecdotes during a tour.
“The campus is our classroom,” Weber said during a mock tour.
Having a class in an outdoor setting rather than in a cube-shaped cinder-block room is not unusual on WWC campus, especially when the sun is out and the wind has simmered down.
The Echo was not permitted to go on a tour with other students. Instead, a stimulated tour around campus was arranged.
Before going on the simulated campus tour, some might anticipate being struck with fact after fact, about the school and campus life, and while that is present, it does not make up the full tour.
The information shared about the campus contains facts that one may not know initially. Few — if any — facts were needed for correction. A few of the compelling points incorporated within a tour include:
WWC has received many awards for its commitment to sustainability.
Many buildings on campus were built or helped built by students such as the Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church, Moriss’ Pavilion and the Administration Office (Orr Cottage).
Bryson gym is one of the oldest wood-floor gymnasiums in Western Carolina.
The building Jensen is actually an owl when looking from above or a birds-eye view.
The Admissions Crew relies heavily on communication with other crews. Information cannot be accurately told to coming students if they are not updated on what other crews are planning.
Campus tours are essential for forthcoming students, allowing them to visualize life on campus. Tours are meant to accentuate the school’s charm, not the flaws. While that can leave a deceitful imprint on students, none of the details told were untrue.
Regardless, WWC is like any other college in America in that its faults will not be shown in a brief visitation.