Brock University was buzzing on a warm, sunny Sunday as its main campus welcomed more than 4,000 guests for Fall Preview Day Nov. 6.

For the first time since 2019, prospective students and their families had the opportunity to tour Brock’s main campus, as well as the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines, in person — all while meeting with faculty, staff and students during the University’s largest on-campus recruiting event.

“I’m inspired by the crowds, the interest and the passion everybody at Brock is showing the students that may be our next class,” said Brock’s President and Vice-Chancellor Lesley Rigg. “Everybody is smiling. It’s good to see so much positive energy and excitement.”

Guests filled hallways throughout campus to explore residences, food options and attend presentations in and tours of a variety of classrooms, labs, seminar rooms, student meeting spaces and recreational areas.

Registration was held for the first time in the natural light-filled Rankin Family Pavilion, where Kara Kelly, Brock’s Manager, Recruitment Operations and Communication, and staff helped prospective students ready for the day ahead.

Kelly said it was refreshing to showcase Brock’s campus after two years of virtual Fall Preview Days held exclusively online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are so excited to be back in person. We show very well as a university and you can feel the energy and enthusiasm everyone has for our beautiful campus,” she said. “There’s a lot of work and planning that goes into this and it culminates with everyone at Brock being able to meet and chat with students and their families.”

A jam-packed Information Fair inside Ian Beddis Gymnasium featured 80 booths that detailed all of Brock’s programs and services, and provided potential future Badgers the chance to interact with faculty, staff and students from all areas of the University.

“I did a full residence tour and was very impressed with everything Brock has to offer,” said Renee Steinmann, who is thinking about studying at the University in September. “I can see myself studying Business here surrounded by a wealth of green spaces. It’s a great place.”

Steinmann travelled from Wellington County, near Guelph, with her mother, Wendy, who graduated from Brock with a Bachelor of Arts in 1997.

“Brock has grown so much since I graduated. Everything feels so new and beautiful and yet some of those unique spaces around campus haven’t changed,” Wendy Steinmann said. “It’s great to be back. University is a time to find out who you are and what you’re going to do next.”