Upon walking into the MU Student Center on Thursday, freshman Paula Steinmeyer just wanted to meet her friends to study and possibly grab something to eat.
Instead, she was greeted with air horns, confetti and a man yelling at her through a megaphone. Overwhelmed by all the excitement, she did manage to hear someone tell her, “You’re the millionth visitor of the student center!”
“When I walked in the door I was really confused,” Steinmeyer said. “Everyone was taking pictures and I didn’t know quite what to think. But they were all very sweet to me, and I was thrilled once I realized I had won something.”
Since opening in 2010, the student center has attracted more than 1 million visitors, averaging 17,000 a day. But during the first four days of class in August, the student center attracted about 30,000 visitors daily, making it the busiest time of the year for the building.
“This building is a landmark in the heart of Mizzou and the hub of student activities and involvement,” Missouri Student Unions Associate Director Heath Immel said in a news release. “Reaching 1 million visitors so soon in the semester is a great accomplishment and we wanted to recognize the moment with a fun celebration.”
In order to measure the amount of traffic the building gets, thermal sensors are utilized to detect when someone enters through any of the entrances to the MU Student Center. But if someone were to leave the MU Student Center and come back later in the day, he or she would be counted as two separate visitors.
“We began the one millionth count at the beginning of the semester,” Student Auxiliary Services spokeswoman Michelle Froese said. “Memorial Student Union uses the same system. Also, the Rec Center, residence halls and Campus Dining know how many customers they have in a day because visitors have to swipe their card to gain entry.”
In addition to the thermal sensors detecting the overall traffic, the sensors can determine which entrances are utilized the most. The south entrance, where the buses drop off students, is the busiest entrance, while the north entrance next to Mort’s also attracts a significant amount of visitors.
“The most traffic is in the Brady Common restaurant area during lunch rush from 11:30 to 1:30,” Froese said.
Steinmeyer was awarded with a $50 University Bookstore giftcard, a $50 Campus Dining Card, a $50 US Bank Visa Check Card and a Beetle Bailey Mizzou T-shirt for being the 1 millionth visitor. Missouri Student Unions ambassadors also presented Steinmeyer with a sash and a poster board indicating she was the 1 millionth visitor.
“Being the 1 millionth visitor definitely was the highlight of my day,” Steinmeyer said. “It was really sweet of the Missouri Student Union to run the event. I’m really glad I stopped by the student center that day.”
