Last week I gave one of my favorite tours yet. A daughter and her mother came all the way from Utah to check out schools on the East Coast. I was instructed to give them a ‘quickie tour.’ They were visiting many schools in three days and they were on a tight schedule.
At this point you do not understand why I say this is my favorite tour that I have given. Well, let’s just say that these visitors were able to fully understand what type of community Unity really is. As we were getting ready to enter Westview, a freshman resident hall, President Mitch came walking along heading to his house, the Unity house. He stopped by and I introduce him to the mother and daughter and he pretty much took up the rest of the tour. We were invited to go down to his house and chat for a while.
The mother had very good questions for Mitch. She asked about his journey to Unity. We learned how he ended up in Unity and pretty much his biography. He mentioned how he and I attended the same high school in New York, but of course years apart. He also explained that Unity students really make an impact in their surrounding here in Unity and beyond. He mentioned, as an example, one of our graduate’s who wasn’t the best student in High School but found his niche here at Unity College. That Unity alum is now in grad school and is very successful. Mitch also talked about the Unity House, which is LEED certified and how it gives back to the grid . This link is for more information if you are interested in learning about the Unity House(http://livinggreeninunityhouse.blogspot.com/).
During each of my tours I try to emphasize what our community is really like. As much as I try to explain it, people do not get a sense of how it really is until we come across the President during the tour. Not everyone gets that opportunity but the ones who do really enjoy meeting Mitch.
Unity really is unique. How many students can say ‘I have been to the College President’s house’ or ‘I played a game of basketball with the President of the College.’ Even better ‘I have had a class that the President of the College teaches.’ This is Unity, a true community.
The rest of the tour of course was rushed and all I kept hearing from the family was WOW. The daughter said ‘that was so cool.’ This family really enjoyed being able to get to know President Mitch just like Unity faculty/staff and students know him.
