The Hokie Nation Hopes for Admissions as Usual

By ERIC HOOVER

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After Sean Follin received his acceptance letter from Virginia Tech this spring, a friend gave him a pair of Hokies fuzzy dice. Mr. Follin, a high-school senior in Falls Church, Va., knew he was bound for Blacksburg, but he decided not to hang the decorations on his rear-view mirror, where suspending such objects is illegal in Virginia.

Then, on April 16, the day of the shootings, he decided to risk it. In a show of support for the campus, he suspended the orange-and-maroon dice in his car, drove home, and logged on to the computer to fill out his housing contract and other forms. Soon, he had his official Virginia Tech e-mail address.

"I wasn't going to change my mind about going to Tech," Mr. Follin says. "What happened was completely random."

Virginia Tech officials hope that most of this year's applicants reach similar conclusions. This week Norrine Bailey Spencer, associate provost and director of undergraduate admissions, told The Chronicle that two of the three admitted students who had canceled their acceptances cited the shootings as a reason, and that one other applicant had declined an offer because of the incident. Short of such communications, Ms. Spencer said, the university has no way of knowing why a particular admitted student may choose not to enroll (Virginia Tech sent nearly 13,000 acceptances this year, and expects to have a freshman class of 5,000).

Although many colleges have weathered negative publicity because of student suicides or murders, Blacksburg has become synonymous with one of the worst shooting massacres in American history. How will that affect the institution's image and long-term recruiting?

"Two things are going to be etched permanently in the minds of those who own a TV," said Tom Abrahamson, managing director of Lipman Hearne, a marketing firm that works with colleges. "One is that the shootings happened and it was horrific. The other is this extraordinary outpouring of pride and passion of the people there. The best and the worst of it is there for Virginia Tech."

'More Like a Home'

In the last 10 days, Virginia Tech's admissions office has received numerous inquiries from prospective students and their parents. Some have asked about campus safety, and others have not, according to Amy L. Widner, a spokeswoman for the admissions office.

Some students have gone to the trouble of calling to say that they are turning Tech down, but not because of the incident, Ms. Widner says. Others have called to say the aftermath of April 16 had only affirmed their commitment.

A few days after the shootings, Virginia Tech sent an e-mail message about the incident to all accepted students. "A tragic event occurred, yes, but what has not changed is that Virginia Tech is a family," the message read, "and the Hokie Nation is proud and strong."

That sentiment resonated with Shelby Evans, a high-school senior in Virginia Beach, Va., who committed to Tech this spring. The day of the shootings, she was frightened. That night she and her parents discussed the possibility of withdrawing their $400 deposit and selecting a different college. The more coverage of the campus she watched on television, however, the more enthusiastic she felt about going to Tech.

"Everyone kept emphasizing how the school was coming together," Ms. Evans says. "That showed me a lot about the campus and the people, how Virginia Tech feels more like a home, not something you run away from."

Ms. Evans is less concerned about her safety than she is about the mood on the campus this fall. "I hope it isn't always a sad and somber place," she says.

Although Tech will not know its final admissions numbers until after the May 1 application deadline, some admissions experts predict that the university's yield -- the percentage of admitted students who matriculate -- will drop. "They could struggle to enroll the class they planned to enroll," says James L. Steen, vice president for enrollment management at Houston Baptist University. "Some students may decide they don't want to come in on the coattails of something like that."

Mr. Steen, a former assistant vice president for admission and enrollment services at Baylor University, helped lead that institution's recruiting efforts after a men's basketball player there shot and killed a teammate in 2003. The scandal did not seem to significantly harm the university's image; both applications and enrollment rose the following year.

Although Baylor officials had decided not to mention the incident in their presentations, Mr. Steen does not believe Virginia Tech has that option, given the magnitude of the shootings and the subsequent international news-media attention. "You don't want to continue to focus on the past," he says, "but I think they have to address it, and they have to be aggressive."

Positive Impressions

Other observers in the admissions field say the national outpouring of support for Virginia Tech could promote positive impressions of the institution among prospective students.

"It's not that there won't be pain as people remember what happened," says Don Munce, president of the National Research Center for College & University Admissions, "but this should actually not hurt, and it may even help, with communications of the message of what Virginia Tech is all about."

This week on Tech's campus, student tour guides tried to pay tribute to the incident, without overdoing it. Bobby Bowman, a junior, started the campus tour he leads the way he always does, telling two high-school students and their fathers to let him know if he was about to bump into anything, since he was going to be walking backward a lot.

Then, as he guided them toward some classroom buildings, he mentioned the murders.

"Obviously, the past week has been an extraordinary week," said Mr. Bowman. "If you guys have any questions about that, you can ask me now, or later. But for the most part, I'd like to keep this a normal tour as much as possible."

No one asked questions, so he continued, "With that said, Welcome to Virginia Tech."

Sara Hebel contributed to this article.