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Let's Ask Nancy For Immediate Release: RICHMOND, Ind. — There are those in the Earlham community who believe that Nancy Sinex knows everything. They may be right. 
Nancy Sinex Sinex is petite woman whose shimmering silver-blonde hair is cut in a stylish bob. She has a warm and welcoming manner and is an engaging conversationalist. She also has a mischievous twinkle in her eye. You understand immediately why students are drawn to her. "I love my job," says Sinex. "I never regret having to go to the office. I love the students. They have such interesting lives and such interesting stories. It's energizing for me." An Earlham grad herself, Sinex has been working in admissions at Earlham for nearly 25 years, the last 10 as director of admissions. "The nature of admissions has changed some over the years," she says. "Sometimes I feel a bit like a salesperson, but more so than many of my colleagues from other colleges, Earlham allows me to do what I need to do: to help guide students to good decisions." And beyond just having the ability to fill open slots, Sinex believes that good admissions counselors need to be "open to discovering what is unique about each individual you come in contact with. You need to have the ability to recognize something special. And," she continues, "maybe this is obvious, but you have to be someone who knows your institution inside and out so that you can make a connection with a student." Sinex thinks that the connections that prospective students are making with Earlham are different than ones that previous generations made because they have more technological options available to them, but she says, "Earlham is drawing very much the same type of students now that we did 20 years ago. I think that this affirms who we are." And who are we? Sinex knows. She knows, for example, which students come from what countries; how many students are from each state; if a student has siblings and, if so, how many; what languages are spoken and by whom; who has played a varsity sport, worked at Arby's, played an oboe, kayaked, has a dislike of Brussels sprouts or who was a champion bowler. For the last 11 years, she's shared this special knowledge of incoming Earlham students during Orientation. On campus, it's generally referred to as "Nancy's Speech" or simply "The Speech." Sinex's fact-gathering has gotten, by her own admission, "pretty extreme" over the last decade since she began telling incoming students just exactly how they add up, but the origins of The Speech are not nearly as complex as her talk has become. Sinex was looking at colleges with her own daughter when someone gave a brief presentation on who was visiting the campus that day. "As a parent, I was impressed," she says, "and I thought that it might be an interesting and fun way to introduce our first years and their families to Earlham." Preparing her speech is time-consuming, Sinex admits, especially since she tries to add new categories and ideas every summer. On top of her other responsibilities, sometimes the preparation is overwhelming. She even decided that she would quit giving it two years ago in spite of its special status as both cherished ritual and cult hit, but, she says, a parent persuaded her to continue. "He begged me to never stop giving it and I realized that people really do look forward to it. And, as I thought about it, I decided that it is a wonderful way for us to acquaint ourselves with the class as a whole. It gives us a sense of the group coming in." In writing her annual address, Sinex finds herself pulled in several different directions. She says that her favorite part is finding the pieces that are unique to a particular class. Parents, on the other hand, tend to want to hear how their offspring fit into the overall class. Students, she says, are always interested in hearing something they did that she has included in her speech. Well, that and one other important thing. "The students are really, really interested in knowing what's the most popular name in the class," she says laughing. "That's the question I get asked the most." To learn the most popular name in the Class of 2011 and many other facts, you may read Nancy's speech online. — EC — Contact: Mark Blackmon, director of
media relations
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Earlham
College · 801 National Road West · Richmond,
Indiana 47374-4095 |