Texas Wesleyan hosted the Ed.D. for an Evening event on Thursday.

A dinner and social hour for past and future students of Wesleyan’s Ed.D. emphasis, the event was in Dan Waggoner Hall and was a chance for prospective students to see if the program would be a good fit for them, said Dr. Celia Scott Wilson, director of the Doctor of Education Program.

 Wilson said the program hosts social events every semester.

“This is a time for current students to come and mingle with each other and also a time to reach out to prospective students and to have them come in and meet our current students and some of the faculty members to get a feel for the program,” Wilson said.

Wilson said that for the last two years, the program has emphasized recruiting, inviting prospective students to sit in on a Tuesday-Thursday class.

Senior education major Dianne Hawkins is the special education director of the Fort Worth Independent School District. She said she loves the Wesleyan program.

“Here at Wesleyan we have the privilege of either choosing Ed. leadership or curriculum and instruction and for me I have a chosen educational leadership, which aligns with what I’m doing,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins said the program is so great in part because it is small and there is a very nurturing environment. She also praised the program’s emphasis on choosing a research topic at the beginning of their studies.

“For every class we’ve taken over the course of three years that was the goal in mind,” Hawkins said. That is the structure here. It makes so much sense, and it’s not like you’re out here wondering around working abstractly, but everything is very focused and intentional.”

Rodney White, principal of the FWISD’s Young Men’s Leadership Academy, said parents and colleagues throughout the district speak very highly of the Wesleyan education program, so he decided to come check the event out.

“I’m getting the feel from the current students and then talking to the professors just kind of finding out what the program entails and what is expected and how I would fit here,” White said.

White said he likes Wesleyan because he believes it has a real family feel.

“Wesleyan is a small learning community and it’s also very close to my campus at the Young Men’s Leadership Academy,” White said.