Go Southwest, Small College

By Ellie McGrath

Worried Midwestern schools prospect for students in new regions

The sell is soft, but the pitch is eager. William Shain of Macalester College in St. Paul brags about his school's Scottish festival. "You haven't lived till you've heard 150 bagpipes all playing together," he tells the group of high school students. To augment Macalester's appeal, he pulls out a picture of downtown Minneapolis and says, "You remember when Mary Tyler Moore tosses her hat over the city? That's where it goes." Spike Gummere of Lake Forest College, which is in a Chicago suburb, tells students that the city is close enough for easy access, but also lets their parents know that it is far enough away for safety. He assures one boy: "You can walk to the lake with your girlfriend at 11 o'clock at night." Karen Crowell of Knox College reminds prospects that Galesburg, Ill., is the birthplace of Poet Carl Sandburg and site of the fifth Lincoln-Douglas debate. She adds, "There are a lot of large Victorian homes and brick streets." Who can resist?

Nobody, hope the admissions officers from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (A.C.M.), who were barnstorming for prospective applicants in the Southwest. Like small liberal arts colleges around the country, the 13 schools that form the A.C.M.* are worried about declining enrollments and are campaigning for candidates as never before. Nationwide, the number of students graduating from public high schools in June will drop 5.3% from last year and go down an additional 5% in 1984. The Midwest, with its high unemployment and declining population, is being hit particularly hard. In Minnesota, for instance, the pool of high school graduates is expected to decrease by at least 29% between 1979 and 1995. To make matters worse, the recession, student-aid cuts and rising costs (average tuition at A.C.M. colleges is $6,100, vs. $1,200 for state universities in their area) are inducing many students to apply to public rather than private schools. A growing number of high school seniors fear that a liberal arts education at a small college will not prepare them adequately for a career in business or the professions.

Facing these grim facts of life, all 13 A.C.M. colleges are eager to become better known in the growing Southwest. To save money and attract a bigger audience, they mounted a joint recruiting effort and made a recent four-day whirlwind tour of Denver, Albuquerque, Tucson and Phoenix.

Talking to a group of guidance counselors in Phoenix, A.C.M. President Charles Neff set out to dispel some myths about his region. The Midwest is not dull. It is not flat. "We do have woods and lakes and rolling hills," he said. His jocularity did not mask his mission. Said one of the counselors: "Any time someone serves you Bloody Marys and screwdrivers at noon, you know they're serious." Neff anticipated questions with a barrage of statistics: 58% of A.C.M.'s graduates find full-time employment within a year after graduation, 25% are enrolled in graduate or professional schools, 60% of all freshmen received some financial aid last fall.

Meeting students and parents, the A.C.M. recruiters set up individual booths to woo prospects. For five hours each afternoon, students and parents went from table to table. The recruiters even managed to turn the Midwest winter into a plus with slides that featured students ice skating and building snow sculptures on picturesque campuses. At Carleton College's display in Albuquerque, one girl stared with delight at a photo of the campus. "It's not like New Mexico at all," she said. "It's lovely." Added her mother: "Oh, go there, dear. I'll go too." In Denver, Lawrence's admissions director, David Busse, quickly learned that one interested high school student, Robert Castaneda, was a trumpet player who also liked math and computers. Busse immediately told Castaneda about Lawrence's music conservatory, pointing out how students can explore two interests at his college: "The first-chair violinist of our orchestra is a biology major." When Castaneda's father asked about the school's computer program, Busse extolled Lawrence's setup: "All our students can get their hands on a computer." After a long conversation, Dad walked away saying, "It sounds like a good college."

In Tucson, Carleton Admissions Director Dick Steele discovered that lanky Eric Schocket was a cross-country runner. Said Steele: "We have a brand-new, $250,000 all-weather track and a 450-acre arboretum that is laced with running and cross-country-skiing tracks." Eric was impressed but said he wanted to become an engineer. Steele suggested that he think about attending a small liberal arts school that also had a strong engineering program and mentioned Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. Eric was even more impressed. Said he later: "That's the first time I've heard a college admissions officer recommend another college."

Although the A.C.M. colleges compete with one another for students, the admissions officers were careful not to put down one another's schools. In Tucson, Cornell College's Peter Bryant told one student and his parents, "You couldn't go wrong room." All with the any of A.C.M. the colleges admissions in this officers are bound by a common cause: preserving good liberal arts colleges. At the end of the trip, after four open-house meetings with prospects in the four days, they tallied the number of visitors: 458 students and parents, up 190% from last year's more limited expedition. Things went so well that the Midwesterners decided to venture into Texas next year. "What keeps us going," says Macalester's Shain, speaking for the group, "is that we all keep hoping for the valedictorian around the next corner."

-- By Elite McGrath. Reported J. Madeleine Nash/Chicago

*Beloit, Ripon and Lawrence University in Wisconsin; Grinnell, Coe and Cornell in Iowa; Carleton, St. Olaf and Macalester in Minnesota; Lake Forest, Knox and Monmouth in Illinois; and Colorado College in Colorado.

With reporting by J. MADELEINE NASH This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.