Recruiting
‘Under the Gun’
There
are recruiting opportunities everywhere – even in the middle of
a crisis. Just ask Kathy Saville (CITE). She was
between conferences in California,
driving to her next destination, when she stopped for a soda at
a gas station on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset
Boulevard in Malibu.
The
gas station had a nice balcony over looking the ocean. Saville decided
to sit there and drink her soda on that sunny California morning.
As she stepped onto the balcony, she saw a police car literally
jump the curb and pull into the gas station. When she turned around
to go enter the building, there stood a police officer with his
gun pointing directly at her telling her to get inside. Without
a word, she did as she was told.
Saville
and seven others were told to stay inside the gas station with no
further instructions. A short time later they learned the officers
were in the middle of a drug bust at one of the outside pumps.
“It
was so surreal,” Saville recalled. “It was like something out of
the movies."
Sitting
on the floor of the gas station next to Saville were a mother and
daughter from the Boston
area. The two had been touring universities on the West Coast and
were unsuccessful in finding one that was a good fit for the daughter.
Saville
asked the young woman a few questions as to what she was looking
for in a university. She responded with three desirable qualities:
a smaller campus where a student is a name and not a number; a friendly,
welcoming atmosphere; and plenty of outdoor activities. Saville
suggested the daughter and her mother visit Northern’s Web site.
Thirty
minutes later, the police had arrested the two criminals, Saville
had possibly recruited a student to NMU, and she was on the road
to her next destination.
“You
know you are committed to NMU when you’re recruiting in the middle
of a drug bust … or perhaps you should be committed!” said Saville,
laughing. It is proof that opportunities can surface just about
anywhere.
Do
you have an interesting or unconventional story of how you promoted
Northern to a prospective student? If so, please contact Kristi
Evans at kevans@nmu.edu .
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