Even after an “adorable” dog ran from Deering Meadow into her campus tour, Weinberg junior Vivica E. Lewis said she knew the show had to go on. 

Lewis is one of more than 100 other tour guides who work through rain, shine or surprise dog visits to show visitors around campus and help them learn more about the University. 

Lewis said she wants prospective students to feel welcome and represented, something that inspired her to become a guide herself. She toured Northwestern during her junior year of high school with her then-classmates and “fell in love.” But coming from a low-income urban high school, her classmates told her they didn’t feel like they would belong at NU, Lewis added.

“I wasn’t really sure how I would fit in as a student of color … but I still was excited about what Northwestern had to offer,” Lewis said. “I wanted to become a tour guide because I wanted to show students that regardless of what background you’re coming from, there are opportunities.” 

For Weinberg senior and tour guide Trevor James, making students feel welcome includes sharing fun opportunities the University has to offer. He talks about a first-year seminar called Rubik’s Cubes, Square Dancing & Mathematics and the Trading Card Game Club during his tours. 

Giving tours involves a type of storytelling, James said, which ties into his former involvement with theatre on campus.  

“There is a very theatrical aspect of being a tour guide, in that you have a script, you are a presenter, you’re publicly speaking,” he said. “You get to crack jokes.” 

Weinberg sophomore Nitya Agrawal said some of her funniest tour moments occur when she runs into friends, who shout phrases like “Go Cats!” She has also endured rainy tours — but many families travel far to visit NU, so they are willing to brave the storm, she said. 

Agrawal said she also includes fun facts and quips in her speeches. She said she often mentions famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who said Deering Library looks like “a pig on its back.”  

“Normally that gets a lot of laughs, especially out of the parents,” Agrawal said. “I think it’s mainly the parents laughing at my jokes.” 

Weinberg junior Shantha Burt, another tour guide, said seeing prospective students with their families is “really cute.” 

“When I first started giving tours, it made me miss my mom a lot,” Burt said. “You can just tell prospective students are super excited but also nervous, and the parents are almost even more nervous than the students.” 

Burt said she often encourages current students to apply for the job, citing opportunities to make friends and learn more about NU on the job. She signed up for sailing classes on campus after learning about them when walking past the NU Sailing Center during a tour, Burt added.

On occasion, Burt and her fellow tour guides have run into freshmen on campus who were on their past tours. Burt said it’s meaningful and rewarding to know she contributed to someone’s decision to choose NU. 

Lewis said serving as a tour guide has also affirmed her own decision to attend NU.

“Because of my understanding of Northwestern as a whole, and the rich culture that comes with it and the facts about campus, I feel like it really deepened my purple pride,” Lewis said. 

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Twitter: @karapeeler

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