What do all visitors have in common when they arrive on campus for the first time? Questions. And there’s no better people to answer those questions than the students themselves.
Sophomore Tyler Waitman and junior Taylor Lowe are two of the more than 25 Liberty University students who work as campus tour guides, meeting with prospective students and their families throughout the year.
Tyler, originally from Tuttle, Okla., and Taylor, from St. Cloud, Minn., said they know they’re talking to families who are about to go through a major transition in their lives and have big decisions to make. Both of them moved several states away to attend LU, and they remember how it can be a scary and exciting time all at once. They’re ready to allay anyone’s fears about college and moving away from home, and they are prepared to help them to begin looking forward to the challenges and memorable moments that lie ahead.
That’s why at Liberty, the tours take on a family feel from the beginning. The guides not only lead families around to campus sites, sharing their vast knowledge on every facet of college life, but they also spend time sharing about their own experience on campus and why they made the choice to attend Liberty. Instead of using a rehearsed script, they make each tour personal and adapt to the needs and desires of the group. With their smiling faces and bubbly personalities, Tyler and Taylor encourage questions along the way and patiently listen and respond.
Tyler Waitman leads a tour of prospective Liberty students and their families.
Tyler said he remembers touring campus with his parents when he was a senior in high school two years ago.
“I felt needed and known as soon as I walked in the front doors of the Hancock Welcome Center. It was amazing,” he said. “The tour guides really cared, and it wasn’t just that they were showing me the highlights of the school, but they were showing me all of the real things as well, their own personal experiences.”
That tour not only led Tyler to choose Liberty but also influenced his decision to become a tour guide. He was hired the spring semester of his freshman year.
“When I was looking for a job, I thought, ‘Wow, I’m going to work on campus, I want to be like those guys and girls that I interacted with when I was a senior in high school.’”
Tyler, who is pursuing an interdisciplinary degree in behavioral sciences and family and consumer sciences, said he regularly tells his tour groups that he chose Liberty for the friendly atmosphere.
“I always tell them that the biggest thing for me was community,” he said. “I know looking around, we have such a strong sense of community. It’s really cool to be able to say that when you’re a student at Liberty, it’s hard to fall between the cracks here because we have so many different things set into place to where you are seen and you are known on this campus.”
Taylor, who is studying psychology, has worked as a tour guide for two years. For her, the job helps her appreciate the blessings she has at LU.
“(One) reason why I love being a tour guide is it keeps me so grateful for everything that we have here at Liberty,” she said. “Just to be able to walk into a facility that’s so beautiful and to hear parents and students say, ‘Wow, this is gorgeous.’ Every single day it’s a reminder to not take anything for granted here. I get to share so many of the things that the Lord has blessed me with here at Liberty. It’s just an amazing opportunity to get to do with new people every single day on the job.”
During Liberty’s College For a Weekend events, you can also find student tour guides participating in activities with the guests, such as game nights, hikes, and ice skating.
Taylor said she remembers meeting a certain high-schooler who was part of a tour she led during CFAW. She could tell immediately that the guest showed little interest in being there. But as Taylor talked with the girl more, and later went on a hike with her, the two began to develop a bond.
“I could tell by the way that she lit up that she was becoming genuinely interested in coming here,” Taylor said. “It honestly seemed as if the event had changed her mind about her interest in Liberty.”
The student applied that same weekend, and when she came to Liberty, she ended up living one floor above Taylor, who was a resident assistant in their building.
“It’s just such a unique experience to get to see her thriving and enjoying her time at Liberty when I and this other tour guide literally heard her say, ‘I don’t really think I want to come here.’ It was really special to be a part of that experience,” Taylor said.
Student tour guide Taylor Lowe talks with families inside the Freedom Tower, home to the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity.
Showing families around campus is also an opportunity to share the love of God, she said.
Liberty’s tour guides publicly display Liberty’s mission of Training Champions for Christ and show how the university has remained committed to its Christian foundation by providing an environment where students can actively grow in their faith. At the point in the tour when the guides lead their group outside the Freedom Tower, home of the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, the tour guides share the Gospel.
“I love the stop at the School of Divinity because it’s a perfect opportunity to clearly outline the Gospel and to be able to look into each guest’s eyes and say, ‘Jesus died for your sins, and there is an eternal future with Him,’” Taylor said. “And then it’s exciting to be able to pray over guests at the end of the tour and really just have the opportunity to be a witness for Christ because they know that they are coming to a Christian school. People are not able to walk away from a tour at Liberty without hearing the Gospel. That’s one of the greatest privileges of this job.”
WHAT TO EXPECT:
With the Hancock Welcome Center as their headquarters, the guides begin each daily tour with a video and introductory message. Then they lead their groups on a walking tour to multiple sites on main campus, including model residence hall rooms, academic buildings, Montview Student Union, The Food Court at Reber-Thomas, and the Jerry Falwell Library. Guests can then board Liberty vans to view Campus East housing and tour Green Hall, home to the Tower Theater, LaHaye Recreation & Fitness Center, Tilley Student Center, and academic departments.
Guests can schedule tours during the week (typically lasting three hours and held at either 9 a.m. or 2 p.m.), set up a “micro tour” throughout the day as needed, or sign up for special tour days:
ExperienceLU: One-day tours on select Mondays and Fridays throughout the year. Guests can sample on-campus dining and meet with professors in their field of interest.
College For a Weekend: Held twice a semester. Guests can spend an entire weekend living like a Liberty student, meeting professors, attending classes, and exploring campus. Upcoming dates: March 30-April 1; Sept. 21-23; and Nov. 9-11.
Campus visits include information about scholarships and the admission process.
PLAN A VISIT:
Liberty.edu/VisitUs
(434) 582-2064
VisitorsCenter@liberty.edu
