June 14, 2011

SEC Schools to Hold First-Ever Joint Recruitment Fairs for Fairfax County and Northern Virginia Areas

By: SECAC Media Release
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

MISSISSIPPI STATE, Miss. – When Marian Kendrick, a career center specialist at Oakton High School, asked a director of admissions from a Southeastern Conference school last spring if she could bring her colleagues up to Northern Virginia to meet with students from their schools, little did she know that representatives from all 12 schools would be coming less than a year later. As a result, this spring, the 12 schools in the SEC are, for the first time, holding joint recruitment fairs for students and information breakfasts for career center staffs and counselors in the Fairfax County and Northern Virginia areas.

These two SEC College Fair recruitment events will be held April 7 and 8.

At each location, the college fairs will give high school students and their families the chance to meet representatives from each school and learn more about each institution. While it is more often the norm that younger staff members from admissions offices travel to visit high schools and students, the leadership in the SEC believes their schools are a “natural fit” for students they consider top notch from our area. Therefore, vice presidents, deans and directors from the institutions are among those traveling to Virginia to recruit together for their schools.

The college fair Wednesday, April 7, is for Fairfax County Public Schools students and their families. It will be held at Oakton High School, 4-8:30 p.m.

A fair open to all students in Northern Virginia, surrounding counties and cities and neighboring states, as well as FCPS students and their families, will be held Thursday, April 8, 4-8:30 p.m., at the Waterford at Fair Oaks in Fairfax adjacent to Fair Oaks Mall.

“By holding these joint programs, the SEC is giving high school students and counselors a one-stop shop to learn about the opportunities at a variety of great schools,” said Dr. Phil Bonfanti, director of admissions and scholarships at Mississippi State University, and coordinator of the program for the SEC Admissions Network. “We want to carry the news of the SEC, home to leading academics and athletics, warm places and friendly faces, to the great students in this area of the country.”

The SEC is a conference of 12 schools–the universities of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee; Auburn, Louisiana State, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt universities

To register for the fairs, go to http://www.seccollegefair.msstate.edu/students.

For further information about the college fairs or the breakfasts, e-mail Molly Riley at
Mississippi State at mer21@msstate.edu.