2019/6/24

The first open campus of academic year 2019 was held on a cloudy and slightly chilly Sunday, June 16th. A total of 1,750 guests including 920 prospective students and 830 parents and guardians filled the Morita Memorial Hall.

The opening program began with a jazz performance by KUFS students. Then, Professor Makoto Kurata, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Studies, and Professor Jeff Berglund, Chair of the Faculty of Global Engagement’s Department of Global Tourism, together introduced about the significance of learning foreign languages in both Japanese and English. When Professor Berglund encouraged the crowd to stand up, saying, “people are energized when they emit a loud voice,” the hall rumbled with a loud “ROAR!” from the audience.

Next, President Takeshi Matsuda presented the history of KUFS and its efforts in English. High school students listened carefully to his speech as they followed the Japanese version of the script in their hands.

Among the popular events was a skype session with a KUFS student currently studying abroad in Australia and a KUFS graduate working on becoming a licensed soccer coach in Argentina, as the hall eventually filled up and people were standing to listen.

Inside the campus, each department welcomed visitors with introductions and mock classes. The Department of Russian Studies, scheduled to start in academic year 2020, was clearly one of the main focuses among prospective students, since additional chairs were brought in to seat the large crowd. The booths where guests have a chance to chat with current KUFS students and exchange students were also filled with high school students.

Comments among participants included, “what a stylish campus,” “quizzes from the mock class by the Department of British and American Studies was fun,” “the student staff who led the campus tour was really nice.” One parent commented, “I was impressed by the English speech by President Matsuda.”

Back