While the Tigers took on the University of California Berkeley on the football field on Sept. 5, the Office of Admissions & Recruitment, Student Ambassadors and the Student Government Association (SGA) of Grambling State University traveled to California earlier in the week with a different goal in mind: to recruit as many students from the Bay area to attend Grambling State University for the 2016-2017 school year.
“The recruiting trip was amazing,” SGA Chief of Staff Michael Meadows said. “It exposed a lot of potential students to the university and gave Grambling State University a chance to partner with different schools and counselors in the Bay area. Kids were so excited to finally meet the World Famed Tiger Marching Band and the Student Government Association at their schools.”
Meadows was joined by fellow SGA members Taylor Stewart, director of media relations and student ambassador, Chief Justice and Student Ambassador Cecil Holt, Sophomore Class President and Student Ambassador Adarian Williams and Executive Assistant Jalexi Heard. Grambling officials included LaTari Fleming, transfer recruiter, Chemia Herron, assistant director of Admissions, David Ponton, vice president for Student Affairs, Sharon Perkins, director of Favrot Student Union, and Barbara Payne, campus-wide activity coordinator. Fleming worked with Sandy Carpenter and the Oakland Chapter of the Grambling University National Alumni Association and NAACP to coordinate all of the school visits.
“We had a nice amount of students sign up,” Fleming said. “At Berkeley High School, some students actually applied online, we got their transcripts, and we admitted students on the spot. I think the recruiting trip went great. The students were really engaged and wanted to learn more about the opportunities that Grambling State University has to offer. We just hope to do more recruiting to get California students more involved and to come to Grambling.”
The recruiting team visited four high schools in California: Oakland Technical High School, Kennedy High School in Richmond, Oakland High School and Berkeley High School. The recruiting trip resulted in more than 150 students applying to Grambling during the recruiting on Sept. 3-4.
“In the absence of our SGA President Jonathan Wallace (who was unable to attend the recruiting trip due to his position on the football team), we still went down there and represented the university with dignity and pride,” Meadows said. “We made sure by the time we left the Bay area, students knew about GSU and what we stand for. We are grateful and we are looking forward to more recruiting trips like that throughout the year.”