Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 15, 2005|Volume 32, Number 26

Nancy Franco and Sheila Pastor say they've seen an increase in international visitors to the University.

Visitor Center enjoys pride-of-place
as it showcases Yale

Austin Broussard remembers clearly the campus tour that changed his life.

Then a high school senior who was unsure that he wanted to go to a college so far from his native Louisiana, Broussard took one of the tours offered by Yale's Mead Visitor Center during a stay on campus.

When his tour guide, an undergraduate, discovered that Broussard was uncertain about attending Yale, "he pulled me up to the front of the tour and spent a lot of time and energy convincing me that I should come here," recalls Broussard, now a junior at the University. "He played a huge part in my decision to come to Yale -- which is actually the story for more students than you might think."

So pivotal was that experience for Broussard that he became a tour guide himself during his freshman year. "I wanted to share that experience. I wanted to do that for someone else," he says.

Every year, over 50,000 individuals are introduced to life at Yale through the tours hosted by the Visitor Center, which this spring is celebrating the installation of two permanent exhibitions -- one on Yale's history and the other on the contributions of its alumni (see related story -- which marks the completion of the renovation of its headquarters.

The building that the Visitor Center now calls home is the John Pierpont House, the oldest surviving residence in New Haven; it is located across from the Green at 149 Elm St. Built in 1767, it was the family home of John Pierpont, one of Yale's founders, and was acquired by the University in 1921. It served for many years as The Faculty Club, and later as the Undergraduate Admissions Office.

Shortly after the Visitor Center moved from its former perch in Phelps Gate to the Pierpont House in 1995, a major renovation project began. Sections of the structure were removed to create an inner courtyard, complete with heated tiles that make it usable year-round. The interior was completely reconfigured to provide office and meeting spaces, public bathrooms and an elevator for access to the Visitor Center's lower levels and to the Koerner Center for Emeritus Faculty, created in 2003 for retired professors, which is located on the building's second floor.

Even before the construction -- when they had to maneuver amidst columns propping up the building's top floors -- the staff of the Visitor Center continued their mission of welcoming individuals from around the world to the campus, promoting appreciation of the University and its achievements, and supporting economic development in New Haven through tourism.

It's a seven-days-a-week job, notes Sheila Pastor, who has been the center's director since 2000. The Visitor Center is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. weekends. Public tours leave at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday-Friday and at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It is closed only on Thanksgiving Day and the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.

"People come here every day to take the tour, even during blizzards," says Pastor, explaining that some out-of-town guests, such as prospective students, often cannot wait for fairer weather. The summer is the center's busiest season, she notes, bringing tourists -- often by the motor coach-full -- who want to explore the University on their travels through the area. The Yale center works closely with the Greater New Haven Convention and Visitors Bureau to coordinate these stopovers and to promote the city and the campus as tourist attractions.

The center also plays a major role in planning the special tours presented each summer during the Arts and Ideas New Haven international festival. These include bike and bus excursions to the city's neighborhoods and eateries, behind-the-scenes looks at Sterling Memorial Library and the Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory, and more.

In collaboration with the New Haven Public Schools, the center hosts field trips that bring hundreds of city students to campus to learn about Yale's history and resources. "We partner with the Office of New Haven and State Affairs to plan additional activities for these youngsters," notes Nancy Franco, assistant director of the center. "For example, they might see a concert or visit the Peabody Museum while they're here."

Prior to each tour, visitors are invited to watch a 10-minute video about the University. The center now boasts Spanish- and Chinese-language versions of that video. "Every year we see an increase in international visitors," says Pastor, noting that the center also offers printed materials about Yale in 10 languages. When possible, the center also tries to match international visitors with a guide who speaks their language, she says.

Tours are on foot and last a little over an hour. They include stops on Old Campus, a residential college (usually Jonathan Edwards or Branford), Sterling Memorial Library and the nearby Women's Table sculpture by Maya Lin, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The center can also accommodate requests for special tours from departments or for groups of over 10 people. Maps for self-guided tours are also available, including ones designed to appeal to youngsters.

While the itinerary is the same, every tour is as unique as the undergraduate who leads it. And sometimes there are big surprises, says Franco, recalling a Halloween tour when -- as has become the custom -- the student guide was dressed in costume (in this case, as a sumo wrestler), which attracted the attention of former President Bill Clinton, who was visiting the campus and came over to speak to the group.

The center has 40 student tour guides, and the process to become one is "fairly competitive," says Pastor, noting that last year there were 150 applicants for 15 open positions. A select number of students are chosen to receive training based on their written applications and interviews. As a final hurdle, they must also give an "audition tour," presenting the facts they've learned in their own style.

"We give them an outline to follow, but we encourage them to make it personal," says Franco. In fact, it is this first-hand perspective that is most appreciated by visitors -- be they high school seniors contemplating their college choice or simply sightseers, she adds. "They really want to hear from students because they're part of the Yale community."

Many visitors return from their tour raving about their guides, notes Pastor. A family from Hartford wrote to the Visitor Center recently about their "wonderful" campus tour last fall, which was led by a student who was from Sri Lanka; in his honor, the family sent a donation to support the University's tsunami relief efforts.

The student guides, in turn, enjoy their interaction with campus visitors, says Broussard, who is now head guide at the Visitor Center. "The people on the tour take pictures of you or videotape you, like you're a celebrity," he explains.

The guides especially enjoy the opportunity to show off their school, he notes. "I always tell people on the tour that, no matter how you look at it, there's always something interesting here, always something to keep your attention. ... We guides say it's the best job on campus."

-- By LuAnn Bishop

Raffle, tours to highlight center's open house

Members of the campus community are invited to drop by the Mead Visitor Center's open house 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26, to see two newly installed exhibitions about the University and win raffle prizes from companies with Eli connections.

The three Yale-related raffle prizes will be a Palm Pilot (Donna Dubinsky, B.A. 1977, co-creator of the Palm Pilot); Red Sox tickets (Larry Lucchino, J.D. 1971, president and chief executive officer, and Theo Epstein, B.A. 1995, general manager); and a gift certificate from Sharper Image (Richard Thalheimer, B.A. 1970, founder).

Guests will also be invited to take an abbreviated campus tour. Tours will leave the Visitor Center every half hour until 3 p.m.

For this occasion only, the center will also have on display other Yale memorabilia that has been borrowed for the day, including the Heisman Trophy, cups from Mory's and more.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Team uses lasers to control specially modified fruit flies

Financial aid increased for Ph.D. students

Exhibits recount Yale's history and the contributions of its alumni

Visitor Center enjoys pride-of-place as it showcases Yale

Event will bring together staff, students to help city groups

Kim Bottomly has been named as a deputy provost . . .

Zedillo appointed envoy to U.N.'s summer summit

Yale undergraduates make impressive showing in . . .

Cycle of August Wilson plays to conclude with 'Radio Golf'

Next Yale Rep season features new plays . . .

Monthly injections of naltrexone in combination with therapy . . .

Researchers identify a protein in the kidney that regulates . . .

Conference pays tribute to ethicist Margaret Farley

Panel and exhibit mark 30th anniversary of fall of Saigon

Event honors individuals who have contributed to women's health

Conference will consider future of controversial Voting Rights Act

Culture and community

Event highlights new research on AIDS

YALE CANCER CENTER NEWS

World-renowned researcher Foss to join staff

Student's internship earns her accolades in Westinghouse contest