The Blue
Tribune
The Blue Tribune is your place to learn about all things Covenant and keep up with stories from campus and beyond. By guiding you through the different aspects of Covenant, we'll help you decide if you want to pursue your very own Covenant experience.
Be Our Guest鈥� Not Just a Visitor
On any given day, Covenant hosts a multitude of opportunities for the newcomer to experience the Covenant community. From scholarship weekends and sneakPEAK days to countless campus tours, many of these experiences begin in the Probasco Welcome Center, a recently renovated building designed to serve incoming or prospective students and alumni. Recently, however, Probasco underwent a name change from 鈥渧isitor center鈥� to 鈥渨elcome center,鈥� which though it seems minor, reflects important campus values.
The term 鈥渧isitor鈥� refers to someone who may be uninvited or might have received an open invitation but not a personal one. This person typically visits a place for one thing or event and then leaves, often never to return. For some of us, the term 鈥渧isitor鈥� brings to mind strangers, maybe even salesmen, and the term 鈥渧isit鈥� implies something passive, like sightseeing (say at Ruby Falls), looking at art in the Hunter Museum of American Art, or even tourism (like Rock City!). In contrast, the term 鈥済uest鈥� refers to a person who has been invited, is personally welcomed, and plays an active role in a relationship, whether new or ongoing, with their host. Being a guest implies receiving intentional and robust hospitality. The assistant director of admission鈥� guest experience, Bryonie Moon, says, 鈥淭he term 鈥榞uest鈥� implies that we are actively welcoming them into our space, curious about who they are and what they bring with them.鈥�
The admissions team, housed inside Probasco, takes hospitality seriously, considering how it affects everyone involved. Bryonie continues on to say, 鈥淪tudents from all backgrounds come to check us out, and it takes curiosity on our part to help them figure out if Covenant is the right place for them. We believe that these guests are welcome on our campus and in our spaces, whether or not they decide on Covenant for their college career. As guests, they are given a seat at our table for a few hours or a few days. By using the term 鈥榞uest鈥� we are reminding ourselves that we are glad to have their stories intersect with ours, wherever they end up for college.鈥�
These values extend even to the admissions ambassadors, students who work in admissions. Ambassador Lauren Mixon 鈥�26 says, 鈥淚t might seem like a small change, but switching from 'visitor' to 鈥榞uest鈥� brings a shift in attitude toward the people we welcome to campus. Being a visitor implies that they can come to campus without really having any interaction with us at all, but to be a guest means that you are coming to a place where you are wanted and will be hosted with thoughtfulness and intentionality. We want our guests to feel the kind of hospitality that we seek to serve them with. A visitor only sees the outside, a guest sees what we're about.鈥�
The new and exclusive use of the word 鈥済uest鈥� reflects President Brad Voyles鈥檚 desire for Covenant to be a place of hospitality. Guests on campus may or may not have been directly invited and may or may not be prospective students, but they are always welcome regardless.
We invite you to be our guest by scheduling a campus visit today!