A group of graduating high school students is participating in a program to get a taste of college life at Eastern this weekend from Saturday to Monday.

The “Access Granted” program consists of 50 students who have been admitted to Eastern.

Nick Sanders, an admissions counselor, said the purpose of “Access Granted” is to provide exposure from the university to underrepresented minority students.

“We invite the students to spend a weekend at Eastern to expose them to the EIU culture and environment with some academic and social programs that we have going on at the university,” Sanders said.

Mona Davenport, director of the minority affairs office, said the “Access Granted” program is done to increase the yield rate of Eastern. The yield rate is the percent of students who attend Eastern after being admitted.

“Just because you are accepted into a university doesn’t mean that you will decide to go there,” Davenport said.

He also said this year there are 39 students from the Chicagoland area, seven students from southern Illinois, and four students from central Illinois, who will participate in “Access Granted.”

Sanders said around 350 to 400 students are invited to “Access Granted” and they pick the first 50 students who return information and consent forms to participate.

Mark Hudson, director of Housing and Dining, said it is a very powerful recruiting tool to have the students get a feel for the campus culture by staying here for a few days.

“I think (the participants) will get a very good understanding that Eastern is a place that cares about students,” Hudson said.

The first event of “Access Granted” is a luncheon in the University Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Will Davis, an Illinois state representative from the 30th district, is the scheduled guest speaker for the luncheon.

“(Davis) will speak about taking advantage of the opportunities that these students have by coming down for the weekend and he will talk about his own personal story as a first generation college student,” Sanders said.

According to the agenda for “Access Granted,” after the luncheon students will participate in different educational programs.

“This year we are doing workshops on study abroad, the national student exchange program we have here and also the Disney internship program,” Sanders said.

Entertainment programs are also scheduled and include a Greek step show, recreation time in the Student Recreation Center and bowling.

An “Access Granted” committee is formed every year to prepare for the event.

“We do about eight months of planning for the speakers, the room reservations, the invitations and all of the marketing of the event,” Sanders said.

Male students are staying on the second floor of Lawson Hall and the females are staying on the ninth floor of Andrews Hall.

“The housing and dining department provides meals for the students free of charge and they also provide the lodging as well,” Sanders said.

Sanders said this year’s students had an average grade point average of 3.03 and an ACT score of 19.

The “Access Granted” event will end Monday after the students participate in Open House around campus.

“In my opinion, by the end of this event, these students are going to know where all of the buildings are and they are going to form a close bond with others that gives them a strong advantage in being acclimated to campus over other incoming freshmen,” Davenport said.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-7942 or rjrodgers@eiu.edu.