It’s a gorgeous fall day on the University of Oklahoma's Norman campus: blue skies, perfect temperatures and students bustling about with all the energy and excitement of a new semester. 

The positive, welcoming vibe at OU is on full display, and nowhere is it more evident than at the university’s newest jewel—the Jones Family Welcome Center. Dedicated in September, the Welcome Center is the showpiece of a major renovation and expansion to Jacobson Hall, built in 1919. 

To enter the Welcome Center, with its iconic, “There’s Only One Oklahoma” message prominently displayed, is to be immersed in the warmth of a Sooner culture that celebrates each individual visitor. 

The center’s job is to facilitate OU’s continued growth in enrollment, which has set records five years in a row and produced the largest freshman class in Oklahoma history this fall with 6,229 students. The class includes the largest number of in-state freshman students in university history.

To construct the Welcome Center, 11,000 square feet were added to Jacobson Hall. Original spaces also were transformed while maintaining the building’s Prairie Gothic character, including ornate, carved wooden details. The Welcome Center is named to honor the extended family of Jonny and Brenda Jones, who made a $15 million gift to the OU Foundation for the center’s construction. 

Light fills the Welcome Center through huge windows, which also provide an expansive view of the north oval. Lively OU iconography and inspiring messages encourage students to see themselves as Sooners. Comfy chairs in OU crimson are plentiful, along with tables perfect for potential students and their families to meet with Office of Admissions and Recruitment staff. The center also features small and large gathering spaces, a coffee bar for visitors featuring products from local roasters Elemental Coffee, staff offices and meeting rooms for students to confer with counselors and financial advisers. 

“The Welcome Center provides a literal and figurative window into the possibilities that exist for students,” says OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “What really occurs here is the moment a student examines their heart and mind to ask, ‘Do I see myself in this picture? Is this a place where I will fit in, where I will belong, where I will connect, where I can succeed, where I can flourish?’ 

“I’m beyond grateful to Jonny and Brenda Jones for making it all possible.”

A 194-seat auditorium overlooking Monnett Hall and Evans Hall helps focus the OU picture. There, students receive a brief welcome from admissions leaders before the room darkens and screens slowly descend. A 270-degree immersive video similar to an IMAX presentation invites prospective students to become part of the OU story. As the screens rise, doors open onto the north oval and students set out to explore campus with a tour guide.

For Edmond Memorial High School senior Molly McCrabb and her parents, Blake and Tiffany McCrabb, the Welcome Center was an exciting and impactful start to her very first college visit. An aspiring biomedical engineering major, Molly opted to take OU’s earliest available fall tour, which took her and her parents from the Welcome Center across campus with stops at Oklahoma Memorial Union, Bizzell Memorial Library’s Great Reading Room and the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Molly, a National Merit Commended Scholar, says she appreciated the entire experience. “It really let me see a preview of everything that OU has to offer. It was casual and customized to my interests, and they told me how I can get involved. It made college start to seem real.”

“Walking into the Welcome Center was a great way to start the day and a wonderful first impression,” says Blake McCrabb. “Our visit felt very personal and allowed us to take everything in.”

Molly and her family are in good company. The Welcome Center plays a key role in student recruitment, especially given that Admissions and Recruitment facilitates more than 700 campus tours annually. That translates to approximately 20,000-plus visitors to campus, says Marissa Henderson, OU’s director of Campus Experience for the Office of Admissions and Recruitment. Her team includes 100 students who serve as both tour guides and OU ambassadors. 

The center’s completion also marks the first time in 10 years that the 45-member Admissions and Recruitment staff for OU’s Norman campus has been housed in the same building. Previously, offices were divided between four locations across campus. Coming together into one facility boosts efficiency, communication and camaraderie at every level, says Morgan Brammer, assistant vice president for the Division of Enrollment Management and executive director of the Office of Admissions and Recruitment. 

“Our team already works incredibly well together, but this move adds to that greatly, making it much easier for students to navigate our services and adding to our ability to showcase OU at its best.”  

Henderson says her team’s overarching goal is to create a personalized encounter like the McCrabbs experienced every time. Student tour guides go beyond pointing out buildings, she says—they share OU’s history, describe their own personal journeys and outline ways that each student can get involved on campus. 

“Everything we do is designed to make visitors feel at home and highlight the growth and experiences they will have as OU students.”

Henderson points to oversized, 3-D crimson lettering sharing the message,  “There’s greatness ahead of you.”

“We want to show students where they are starting and who they will become through their years at OU.” 

Above all, she says, visitors to the Welcome Center will find friendly staff and current students, all eager to offer assistance with a smile.

 “ ‘Crimson Hospitality’—our unique way of intentionally expressing the warm, family culture at OU—is something we’ve worked hard to develop and offer consistently,” adds Jeff Blahnik, vice president for OU’s Division of Enrollment Management and the university’s chief enrollment officer. “Each visitor to our campus is greeted by a person with a heart to serve and the desire to show the best of OU.

“Our visitors frequently tell us that the OU community is truly vibrant and friendly, and incoming students share that they feel like they belong and have opportunities to connect in a meaningful way.” 

The McCrabbs agree wholeheartedly. 

“The new Welcome Center facility is impressive, but it’s the university’s people who make it special,” says Tiffany McCrabb. “What we found at OU is the best of both worlds.” 

Staci Elder Hensley is a freelance writer living in Tecumseh, Okla.

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