College Open Houses traditionally welcome prospective students with many tables of pamphlets and a few representatives in a large hall or gym, but Indiana University Northwest Admissions Counselor Kevin Smith felt that his school’s Spring Open House could use a little change.
That idea transformed into a series of three sessions that recently took place at Hawthorn Hall.
“We wanted to break up the monotony of typical college open houses — to stand out more,” Smith said. “We want the students to get more of an experience and an ‘Inside Look’ into some of our more popular programs at IU Northwest.”
Dozens of local high school students took advantage of the sessions, including one recent presentation, “Criminal Justice, Political Science, Social Work, Pre-Law, and the IU Northwest Cadet Program.” Whiting High Schoo students Angel Villanueva and Octavio Gutierrez attended this presentation. They are graduating this year and have been accepted at IUN, both will study Criminal Justice.
Angel’s grandfather is retired from Cook County, Ill., law enforcement and he influenced his grandson’s career choice.
“I wanted to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps,” Angel said. “Then I talked with IUN representatives at a job fair last year, and I knew this was where I wanted to go to college.”
The open house began this year with a welcome from the IUN Admissions Department.
“There are many benefits to attending college right in your own backyard,” Smith said. “The cost is much lower than if you’re on campus, you don’t have to worry about housing, and there’s more than 60 student clubs and organizations you can join — you’re getting the full college experience here.”
The visitors then traveled to two classrooms — the first of which was staffed with officers from the university’s police department to introduce students to the cadet program.
“Our police department here not only covers our campus, we patrol the surrounding streets as well,” said officer Anthony Ortiz, who currently is an IUN police officer who will graduate this spring. “We have a partnership with the Gary Police Department — three of our officers assist on their S.W.A.T. team, and we have our own Detective Department.”
Once accepted into the cadet program, students attend the Police Academy in Bloomington, Ortiz added.
“When they complete their work and graduate from this program, they are qualified to become a law enforcement officer anywhere in the state of Indiana,” he said.
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In the second classroom, IUN adjunct professors Jana Szostek and Todd Conover discussed law careers with prospective students around a long conference table.
Szostek asked for thoughts on the legal system, “Good, bad, indifferent?”
Answers from around the table included, “Many laws need to be changed,” and, “It seems like there’s both good and not so good sides of the law.”
Szostek also stressed the point that those contemplating work in the legal field should consider themselves advocates.
“They assist the little guys working against the big guys,” she said. “Without lawyers, people’s voices won’t be heard.”
Conover added that there are myriad of ways to utilize a law degree.
“Only 15 percent of lawyers are litigators,” he said. “The rest go into other areas, such as legislature or advocacy work.”
Indiana University Northwest typically offers two open houses each year, one in the fall (last Thursday of October) and one in spring (first Thursday of April).
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
