A count last year found more than 500,000 visited YSU campus

By Denise Dick | July 27, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Throughout the year, Youngstown State University draws visitors to campus for sporting events, musical performances, lectures and art displays.

Until now, though, no one tracked those numbers. This past academic year, the campus visitor count was 534,123. No, that’s not a typo. In fact, it may be too low.

It doesn’t include students or people who work at the university, either.

“It shows that we’re an important institution for the region,” said YSU President Jim Tressel.

Not everyone is aware of that, he said.

The figure includes people who go to work out at the Watson and Tressel Training Site, visit the planetarium inside Ward Beecher Hall, cheer at a football game or take in an installment of the Skeggs Lecture Series, for example.

Carole Weimer, chairwoman of YSU trustees, hopes for an even higher number next year.

“I think what it says to me, if we double the number of people who come, they can see the value of YSU and its place in the community and its importance in the community,” she said. “Let’s make it one million next year. That would be great.”

Bringing more people to campus would expose them to more of what goes on at the university.

“So many people in our community drive down Wick, drive down Fifth and don’t really see what YSU is all about,” Weimer said.

Whether it’s high school students coming to campus for the English Festival or History Day competitions or someone attending an art show, it exposes those people to the university “and all the wonderful things YSU has to offer not only for students but for community members,” she said.

The vast majority of last year’s visitor tally – 347,213 – attended athletic events on campus.

Earlier this year, Tressel asked deans and division leaders to track visitors. Tressel said he knew it would be a big number.

Shannon Tirone, associate vice president of university relations, believes even more people came to campus.

“We’ve never tracked it before,” she said.

After submitting their tallies, some department heads called to add to their totals, realizing they hadn’t included a particular event, she said.

Tressel acknowledged that the number doesn’t eliminate those who have attended multiple events. It counts visits, not individuals.