The Kent State Campus Tour Center officially opened in the Kent Student Center on Monday, March 31 after moving out of the Schwartz Center.  

The new home for the tour center is Room 204 of the Student Center. The main reason for the move was because of space, said Mark Ledoux, associate director of the admissions office.

 “For the past year and a half, we’ve been running out of space with our tour room over at the Schwartz Center,” Ledoux said. “We only had 62 chairs over there, so there were a lot of days where we were full and had to turn people away. Right now at our new location, we have seats for 136. We had simply outgrown our space, and that’s the main reason for the move.”

The tour center will act as a starting place for all campus tours, assistant director of admissions Brian Crescenzo said.

 “This room is where we give a 30-minute presentation before the 90-minute walking tour,” Crescenzo said. “The tour can be for any interested student, whether it would be a new, first-time, incoming freshman to our school, a transfer student and even possibly an adult student who is new to the campus. If they would want a tour, they are able to go online and sign up.”

The move to the Student Center also has other beneficial factors other than space, Ledoux said.

 “It’s great to be starting in the Student Center,” he said. “You really get a feel of campus. The bookstore is here, you can get lunch here and instead of being in the Schwartz Center, you’re more centrally located.”

Junior marketing major Nick Withem said he thinks moving the tour center into the Student Center will help out the school greatly.

“It’s a good idea, I think,” Withem said. “The Schwartz Center is so off the map compared to where you are everyday as a student on campus. I remember when I went on my tour as a senior in high school, I actually couldn’t find where I was supposed to go. With tours starting at the Student Center, new students will get a better feel of the campus.”

Contact Drew Jones at [email protected].