The first thing visitors notice when they step into Union’s admissions office isn’t a wall of statistics or a stack of brochures. It’s warmth. A sandy amber glow spills from the lamp beside the door, and a red-and-white knitted blanket drapes over the back of a gray swivel chair where Amanda Chenault sits. A collage of blurry Polaroids and wedding invitations envelops her desk — snapshots of Union life layered over years of stories.
Chenault, director of campus visits in The Office of Undergraduate Admissions, greets each guest with the kind of genuine interest and gentle welcome that’s impossible to script. For her, welcoming prospective students to Union is more than a job. It’s a ministry.
“I went to a large state school where you were truly just a number,” Chenault said. “I had a class where you put your student number on your papers and tests instead of your name. Here, we’re people-focused, and you see it played out.”
That difference — the move from number to name — roots every part of Union’s approach to campus visits. While many universities measure success in data and spreadsheets, Union begins with a name and an invitation into what Chenault calls the “greenhouse.”
“Dr. Dub always says college is either a greenhouse or a graveyard for your faith,” Chenault said, leaning forward, her chair squeaking. “At Union, you pull up on Move-In Day, and you step into the greenhouse. There are staff, faculty and fellow students that are helping to protect that greenhouse and are in it with you. I love that part of my job is I get to invite people into the greenhouse. That’s a gift.”
But even with such a rich community to share, the challenge remains: how do you capture the heart of Union’s story — one rooted in Christ, excellence and belonging — in a 75-minute tour?
“It’s hard,” Chenault said with a laugh. “We truly focus during our tour on our four core values — being excellence-driven, Christ-centered, people-focused and future-directed — and being able to display those through the interactions they have on the tours.”
By the end of most visits, prospective students can list the four core values for their enrollment counselors, retelling the story of Union — a story that begins long before a visitor pulls onto campus. Once a student registers for a personal visit, they’re immediately connected with an enrollment counselor. Before they ever set foot in the Barefoot Student Union Building (SUB), the conversation has already begun.
“Everything is very intentional,” Chenault said. “We’re catering to what you want for your experience while you’re here. Do you want to meet with faculty? Do you want to sit in on a class? Oftentimes, if you don’t check that you want to, we still reach out and encourage you to because it’s a great opportunity while you’re here.”
For many prospective students, the intentionality and personal focus of Union’s campus visits stand in stark contrast to what they experience elsewhere.
“It really just seemed like a script.”
Just across campus in Cobo — the Brewer Dining Hall’s affectionate nickname — sunlight pooled across a table where junior public relations major and student ambassador Molly Sha Luttrell sat, a hot pink water bottle glistening beside her. Wearing a royal blue set, she spoke with the same eager warmth that colors her tours.
“Every other college I toured, and everything that was said, you could just tell there was no care, no intentionality,” Luttrell said. “Then I came to Union, and it was so intentional. Everyone I met genuinely loved the school and each other.”
Her own journey to Union began with a Google search: “Christian PR schools.”
“I had never heard of Union,” she said, laughing as she fingered her necklace. “But when we toured, Dr. Dub gave his greenhouse-or-graveyard speech. Then we went on the tour, and I kept seeing the same faces as we walked, and I thought, ‘I could belong here.’”
Now, Luttrell gives tours as a student ambassador, offering others the same unscripted experience she received. She admitted that this often means letting tours flow naturally.
“It’s about connection,” Luttrell said. “If a student starts telling me about what they’re involved in, I’m not going to interrupt to talk about the post office. I try to cater the tour to them.”
She recalled one preview day when she and her co-guide debated whether to take extra time to visit the Ethos building with a student interested in engineering. They decided to go, and it paid off.
“At the end, the student exclaimed, ‘That was awesome,’” Luttrell said. “Moments like that — being adaptable and personal — that’s what makes Union special.”
As a student enrollment counselor, I’ve had the joy of witnessing how much those moments matter. Student ambassadors aren’t just tour guides; they’re storytellers, often the first to invite visitors into the greenhouse of Union.
“I tell our ambassadors that give our tours they’re storytellers telling the story of Union,” Chenault said, sipping her Diet Coke. “We’re not trying to sell you; we’re just sharing the story of Union. Then, if you see that you fit there, that’s great.”
That honesty includes acknowledging that college can be hard, even at a Christ-centered university like Union. Chenault explained that one counselor often shares with prospective students how he called his mom freshman year, convinced Union wasn’t for him. However, once he started plugging in and getting involved, Union radically transformed his life.
“That’s the reality,” Chenault said. “College is hard. But Union is an environment where it’s not as hard as it could be. You have faculty members and classmates that notice if you don’t come to class. It’s just a community that can love on you through that hard time. It ends up being something that actually helps grow you instead of crumble you. We really try hard to be honest about that.”
In Cobo, Luttrell pushed her empty plate aside as she described how she sees that same authenticity and transparency reflected in every tour she gives.
“Everything is going to be what you make of it,” she said, her eyes crinkling. “I don’t feel like we put on a show. It’s very genuine. The Christ-centeredness that I was promised is here, and the same with all the other core values. Admissions has been the best unknown mission field. I get to tell people that I love Jesus and that He called me here. Every family I talk to is an opportunity for ministry.”
Back in the admissions office, the AC breeze lifted the corners of Polaroids pinned to the wall — students with names scrawled in Sharpie beneath their smiles. Chenault looked at them, her eyes soft.
“You don’t know what you’re saying yes or no to if you don’t experience it,” she said. “Come for a campus visit, meet with faculty and students and ask the real questions. It’s not going to make it a perfect experience because no experience is this side of heaven. But you’re more than a number here.”
As I listened, I thought of all the tours I’ve watched unfold — parents clutching Barefoots coffee cups and students asking timid questions that grow into laughter by the end.
In a world obsessed with metrics and rankings, Union’s story isn’t told in numbers.
It’s written in names.
