Panther Patrol was up at 5 a.m. today as they traveled through Coles County, putting up congratulatory signs for admitted students in the area that read, “admitted,” “honor student” and “I am EIU.”

The Admissions Office and New Student Programs visited 58 homes in the Coles County area, leaving balloons and gifts, such as an Eastern bag, T-shirt and random goodies on students’ front lawns along with their signs.

Blair Holly, an admissions counselor, said most students already know they have been accepted, but not all have decided they are officially coming to Eastern.

“Panther Patrol is a recruitment and yield program that we have designed to help students along their decision-making,” she said. “You never know, this nice gesture may help a little bit.”

Cordeous Love, assistant director for new student programs, said new student programs make sure they fulfill their role in Panther Patrol by providing volunteers.

“We get former prowl leaders, debut leaders, senior prowl leaders,” he said. “Those are like the core people we kind of go to.”

Jerrion Shell, campus visit specialist, said volunteers sometimes could be hard to find, because the event takes place so early.

“Since it is early in the morning, a lot of people think about their entire day,” he said.

Panther Patrol begins early in the morning so they can reach students’ houses before they leave for school.

“I actually send a letter out in advance to their parents, so we don’t show up unannounced,” Holly said. “I get e-mails from parents saying that their child leave around 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.”

Holly said she also receives e-mails from parents highlighting their child’s accomplishments during high school so they can be displayed on the students’ sign with their name.

“One parent told me that her daughter was on varsity tennis and the National Honors Society, Illinois State Scholar,” she said. “So we know everything in advance.”

Holly said members of the Panther Patrol do not knock on the door, but approaches the house quietly and leave their items.

“The students don’t even know that we are there,” Holly said. “It’s a surprise. We try to be kind of sneaky.”

Holly said she recalls a time when parents were actually looking out for the Panther Patrol team.

“We had a mom and dad that were looking out for one of our teams and they offered a cup of coffee in the morning,” she said. “So they know we are coming.”

Holly said last year she received many e-mails from parents explaining how excited their child was to be noticed by Panther Patrol.

“We got several e-mails from parents saying my daughter was so excited; she loved the shirt,” Holly said. “We have staff members whose children go to Charleston High School and they say, ‘Mom all the Panther Patrol kids were wearing their T-shirts at school.'”

Holly said the Panther Patrol program is a growing and beneficial program for the university.

“The benefit of doing this definitely makes the students feel that they matter to us,” she said. “We want to say ‘hey we are glad you applied to EIU, and we recognize you, thank you, and we hope to hear from you soon.'”

Jessica Leggin can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmleggin@eiu.edu.

The graph above represents the enrollment of men to women on Eastern’s campus for the past 10 years. Currently, the ratio of men to women on campus is 5-to-7, which is similar to the current national ratio.(Graphic by Adam Larck/The Daily Eastern News)

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