Camps are an Important Summer Business at EIU
May-22-2014
More than 11,000 high school students will participate in 56 camps and programs over the summer at Eastern Illinois University, according to Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs.
“The minute students move out of the residence halls in the spring, we begin work to get ready for the influx of our special guests,” he said. “The camps and conference opportunities include a wide variety of programs and interests from band and drama camps to Boys and Girls State and even the state track championships.”
Eastern Illinois University has a long history of hosting special summer programs, he said, and this year is no exception.
“This is a great way for the university to get additional use out of buildings that wouldn’t be heavily used in the summer,” Nadler said, “and it’s a wonderful way to introduce a new generation of students to EIU.”
Many of the camp/conference attendees spend a week or more in the residence halls and have the chance to explore the campus and its surroundings at their leisure.
“A number of our incoming freshmen note that they first experienced EIU when they came to Charleston to participate in a summer camp,” said Matt Boyer, assistant director of housing and dining for conference services. “Both the students and their parents are impressed with the university and love the friendly atmosphere of the city.”
This year, the university plans to extend the hours in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union to better accommodate the visitors and also make students aware of the surrounding businesses, Boyer said. The student union serves as a gathering place on campus with its food court, the university bookstore and entertainment facilities.
“While we’re delighted to have them here for the summer camps,” Dan Nadler said, “we would really love to have them back as EIU students in the future, so we want them to have a great experience with the campus and with Charleston as a whole.”
