According to Associate Dean of Admission Ralph Figueroa, this year’s WesFest was the largest ever, drawing over 400 prospective students, 100 more than in previous years.

"They were all really excited about the programs," Figueroa said. "They had a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful. We told [the pre-frosh] we had arranged that for them, as well."

"From our perspective, it went really smoothly," said Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Nancy Hargrave Meislahn. 

This was Meislahn’s first WesFest experience, having moved to the University from Cornell in January.

Pre-frosh and their families swarmed the campus during the three-day event that featured a number of programs aimed to acquaint the guests with the campus and its students.

Programs included tours of the Science Tower and CFA, a number of open invitation athletic events and music rehearsals, as well as an activities fair in the Freeman hockey rink.

Many pre-frosh also opted to attend a few student-to student panels organized by the Office of Admissions. 

"The student panels were a big part of the weekend, allowing pre-frosh to ask students questions about their experiences here," Figueroa said.

The weekend also boasted a number of special guest events including a lecture by visiting film artist John Waters, and a Friday night talk on the issue of diversity by Dean Emeritus
Edgar Beckham ’58.

Government Professor John Finn also joined in on the fun.

"Professor John Finn also did a wonderful presentation on the academics of cooking," Figueroa said. "The parents and students especially loved that."

In addition to the general programming, the Office of Admission hosted a program especially for prospective students-of-color.

"There’s always a separate student-of-color pre-frosh program," Figueroa said. "We had programs running at the same time as the regular WesFest events, but there were also many event overlaps,"

Some members of the student body experienced WesFest by hosting pre-frosh in their dorms and sharing classes with them.

"I didn’t actually, technically sign up for a pre-frosh, but the girl who lived next door to me had three so I took one," said Morgan Stecher ’03.

Stecher entertained her pre-frosh by party hopping at WestCo.

"She didn’t ask about it being the naked dorm, or anything, but while we were there a group of naked people ran through and shouted at us through bullhorns," Stecher said. "I really think she’s going to come here."

Some pre-frosh responded to the liberal leanings of the campus.

"I like [Wesleyan] a lot," said pre-frosh Lauren Graber from Minneapolis. "It’s a lot different from Minnesota."

"I really like going to college classes," Graber added. "It’s like pretending to be a big kid."

While most Wesleyan students didn’t seem to mind the younger crowd on campus for the weekend, some expressed annoyance over the non-drinking policy.

"The whole thing with the [no] drinking was ridiculous," said Jessica Ziemian ’02. "That’s part of coming to college, that’s part of what [the pre-frosh] want to experience."

According to Ziemian, her pre-frosh went out, found a house party on her own, and got drunk despite the strict rule.

The Office of Admission, however, expressed its gratitude to the Dean’s Office for implementing a dry campus this weekend.

"I think it was a helpful thing to do," Figueroa said.

Figueroa added that he wanted to thank the student body for being so hospitable.

"They were very good hosts, both figuratively and literally," Figueroa said.

This year’s pre-frosh will have to make their final decision to attend Wesleyan by May 1. The Office said it cannot yet speculate on how many of those admitted will actually accept.