San Diego State was bustling with curious campus adventurers Saturday during Explore SDSU – an annual open-house event where alumni and future Aztecs were given the chance to enjoy all that SDSU has to offer.
Nearly 5,000 people attended the day’s welcome session at 8 a.m. in Cox Arena, Event Coordinator Aaron Woods estimated. Both University President Stephen Weber and Associated Students President Chris Manigault spoke to campus visitors.
Future SDSU students, faculty and visitors enjoyed free food and entertainment amid alumni celebrity sightings, campus tours and stops at various booths from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visitors even caught a glimpse of Army ROTC cadets repelling down the side of Love Library.
Sports fans perusing the booths received baseball tips from Tony Gwynn and Mayor Jerry Sanders came to peruse his old stomping grounds.
“I think San Diego State helps the San Diego community every single day with the leadership that it’s providing with the education it’s given to so many San Diegans – the opportunity to step up in business and education and government,” Sanders said. “SDSU has done an incredible job of training San Diegans.
“I met my lifelong friends when I was here – just lifelong everything, and that’s the reason I’m so grateful for this university.”
The campus was split into 10 “villages” so that attendees could easily find their areas of interest. They included, Future Aztecs Village, Go Aztecs! Village, Just for the Health of it Village, Kids Zone Village, SDSU & the Community Village, Science and Technology Village, Arts Village, Key to the World Village, Alumni Village and My-State Village.
The high energy of the crowd and the sunshine provided a picturesque environment for visitors to enjoy the campus.
SDSU Ambassadors conducted tours and open houses for incoming freshmen and separate tours for transfer students. The SDSU newcomers got a chance to look at each college, the athletic facilities, fraternity and sorority houses, the library, The Daily Aztec offices, the Children’s Center, KPBS and the residence halls.
Complete with an inflatable slide and a storyteller, the “kid zone” was there to allow parents with younger children to keep them entertained while the rest of the family checked out the campus.
Meanwhile, the SDSU cheerleaders, band and choir kept the energy hich.
“I want to get the college experience,” said incoming freshman Desiree Barger, who discussed her wishes when deciding on a college. “(SDSU) had a really good school for nursing, and that’s what I wanted to do.”
NBC anchor and SDSU alumnus Ken Kramer, who joined the festivities, said his experiences at SDSU were positive ones.
“No question about it,” Kramer said, “the hands on experience I got working here was just key to being, to understanding what was required of me in the real world.”
