Abstract

The University of North Texas (UNT) is a large (40,000+ students) Hispanic-Serving Institution. The main campus in Denton was outside of the path of the annular eclipse of October 2023 and was also just a few miles outside the path of totality in April 2024. The College of Science team held two outreach events for the partial eclipse – one event on the main campus and another at one of the university’s off-campus observatories. For the total eclipse, the same College of Science team held two “Totality Awesome” Pre-Eclipse Parties on the main campus on Saturdays leading up to the eclipse. The goals were to prepare the community to safely enjoy the eclipse anywhere and ensure the community knew that the main campus was not in the path of totality. A university-wide committee managed several events with their focus on a viewing party on a satellite campus in Frisco that was in the path of totality. Collaboration between groups across campus and a widespread marketing plan were key to the success of the events. Impacts of the efforts
include donations to College of Science scholarships, increased enrollment in Astro 101 courses for non-majors, recruitment of physics majors, and new connections in the community.

1. Introduction

Dallas-Fort Worth is the fourth largest metroplex in the country, with more than 8 million residents. It was not in the path for the October 2023 annular eclipse, and the region was split by the western edge of the path of totality in April 2024 (see Figure 1).

The University of North Texas (UNT) is a large (40,000+ students) Hispanic-Serving Institution in Denton, about 40 miles northwest of Dallas. UNT’s Astronomy Education Program in the Physics Department supports undergraduate labs and outreach. The Physics Department has three astronomy facilities, the Rafes Urban Astronomy Center (RUAC) observatory (off campus, 10 miles) and the Sky Theater Planetarium (on campus), and the Monroe Remote Observatory (off campus, 30 miles).

On the main campus, the maximum coverage for the October 2023 eclipse was 86%, so the team expected it to be a nice experience to view through glasses or indirect viewing methods, but we were not planning to experience any major changes. The main campus in Denton had the bad luck of being just a few miles outside of the path of totality on April 8. The maximum coverage in Denton was 99.98%. These “misses” did not deter faculty and staff from hosting several events for the October 2023 and April 2024 eclipses.

2. Outreach events

2.1 October 2023 Partial Solar Eclipse

The College of Science team created two events – an on-campus viewing party in a green/lawn area in front of the Physics Building (see Figure 2), and an off-campus event at the RUAC observatory. The on-campus event was free to attend and eclipse glasses were distributed. The off-campus event had a $7 entry fee, used to pay hourly student workers and purchase supplies. The College of Science used $5,000 to order 12,000 custom glasses from the company Rainbow Symphony. The glasses were designed by students in the Physics Department. The quality of the glasses was high, and no defective glasses were identified.

The marketing campaign for these events was, compared to the effort in April, relatively small, and included digital flyers (see Figure 3), yard signs placed around campus, social media posts and website updates.

The on-campus event had about 35 volunteers (representing all departments in the College of Science) in staggered shifts over the four-hour event. There was one training session one week before the event, where a few demos were shared and a “how to point a telescope” instruction was given. All materials used at this event belonged to Rebekah Purvis, collected from outreach events over a decade in education and leading an event at a school for the 2017 eclipse. The activity stations included: Eclipse Explanation Station, Photobooth, Space Research at UNT (professor from College of Engineering), Kids craft area, and telescopes with solar filters. The most popular station was the telescopes. We were pleasantly surprised by perfectly clear skies and the experience of it getting darker and cooler.

In addition to celebrating the eclipse, the event was a fundraiser for the Society of Physics Student organization. Flyers with a QR code to the university donation site were placed around the event and added to the department website, but the effort was not successful. As a result, a different approach was taken to fundraising in April.

By chance, there were two big events on campus on October 14. Fall Preview Day, where prospective students and their families tour the university and attend informational sessions, drew more than 3,000 students. The College of Science provided our custom glasses to each guest at check in, and students and their families were encouraged to visit the on-campus event. In a post-event survey, the eclipse was often cited by the participants as their favorite part of the day.

The second chance alignment was a home football game during the eclipse (UNT vs. Temple). The College of Science team started communication with the Athletic Department weeks ahead of the game to arrange for glasses donations and educational flyers. Copy was provided and read during a well-timed 3-minute timeout near the peak of the eclipse. The telescope live-stream from the RUAC was also shown on the big screen at this time (see Figure 4.)

2.2 April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Campus administration was much more involved in planning for the total eclipse. An ad hoc committee of scientists, administrators, marketing, brand strategy and communication, and other staff was established to coordinate efforts and share information across groups, including safety and catering. The committee met twice each month leading up to the eclipse. A single website was developed (https://www.unt.edu/eclipse.html ) with information for the UNT community and a calendar of events.

Pre-Eclipse Events

The College of Science hosted two pre-eclipse events on March 23 and 30 from 10 am – 3 pm. Each event was marketed as a “Totality Awesome Pre-Eclipse Party” (https://cos.unt.edu/news/totality-awesome-join-us-total-solar-eclipse-pre-party). The purpose of these events was to ensure that the community was prepared to safely enjoy the eclipse experience to its fullest. It was marketed to the UNT community as an opportunity to pick up free eclipse glasses for their family. The College of Science developed a strategic marketing campaign using newsletters to various audiences and social media in the weeks leading up to the events, which included an RSVP form for interested parties.

This event relied on volunteers from the College of Science, including faculty and students. There were also hourly student workers for key roles such as Planetarium Console Operator. We held a training session two weeks before the first event for all volunteers. Volunteers were assigned to a station and provided an instruction sheet for their station. During the event, volunteers were provided with lunch.

A brochure (see Figure 1 and Figure 2) provided information about why this event was special and how to safely enjoy the eclipse. There were three “headliner” events, which each ran three times each day: a planetarium showing of “Totality over Texas”, an Eclipse Education session, and a Trivia session (with prizes). There were additional small stations set up during the parties: Mathemagician with the Dean of the College of Science, a Family Center with activities for kids, outdoor telescope demonstrations, Sun-spotters, pinhole camera demos, a Space-Time demonstration, a Citizen Science table, an Astronomy education table with 3D printed models, and a Local Events table. On March 30, there was a fourth “headliner” event: “Ancient History and Eclipses”. We created ticket stubs for the “headliner” events for guests and distributed them from the registration table. A map with event locations was created and printed on large boards. The College of Science used the university catering service to provide snacks (popcorn, party mix, candy) and drinks (water, lemonade, tea) to guests. A special guest, the UNT mascot Scrappy, dropped by each event and took pictures with guests. (For more details of the schedule, see https://cos.unt.edu/news/totality-awesome-college-science-pre-eclipse-event-schedule.)

In addition to educating the public, we used the event to identify new donors for College of Science scholarships and programs. We used a marketing campaign that promised a “party kit” for a donation: “Are you ready for the eclipse? Donate any amount to any College of Science scholarship or program and receive a special DIY Eclipse Party Kit!” The kits were given in a UNT College of Science cotton-canvas tote bag and included UNT branded items (sunscreen, reusable water bottle, Earth-Moon scale model kit with golf ball and marble, Earth stress ball, eclipse glasses, paper, and pens) and the informational brochure. Attendees showed the confirmation of their donation at the registration table upon arrival.

One of the most popular stations was the local events table. It had a monitor with an interactive eclipse map (http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html). Many visitors were surprised to learn that their home was (or was not) in the path of totality, so this proved to be one of the most important activities at the events. As with the October event, the outdoor telescope station was very popular.

A post-event survey was linked on the website, in the brochure, and was emailed to everyone who registered for the events. North Texas Daily, UNT’s student newspaper, featured the event in an article and video: https://www.ntdaily.com/news/college-of-science-hosts-totality-awesome-solar-eclipse-pre-party/article_a835271c-f2e2-11ee-9e57-0b269d166d58.html

Events on April 8

On the main campus, the student-lead University Program Council hosted a free event outside of the Union Building with educational stations and glasses for all attendees. There were also events on the Discovery Park satellite campus (also in Denton, outside of totality). The main event was on the UNT Frisco campus, which was in totality.

3. Impact

One major impact of the eclipse and the UNT eclipse activities is enrollment. There was a 55% increase in enrollment in our two “Astro 101” courses from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024 with the same number of sections. We offer each course as in-person lecture and lab, online lecture and in person lab, and fully online, so enrollment caps were adjusted in the online meetings to meet the increase in demand. There was also a positive impact on recruitment – there was a 42% increase in the number of physics majors (up from 106 in Fall 2023 to 150 in Fall 2024). This increase has contributions from new freshman, transfer students, and UNT students who changed their major to physics or added physics as a double major. Additionally, more than twice as many new students to UNT are majoring in physics in Fall 2024 (61) compared to Fall 2023 (30). More than one third of all physics majors select the Astrophysics concentration option. This option debuted in Fall 2022.

For the October 2023 on-campus event, prospective students who were on campus for the Fall Preview Day listed the eclipse as one of their favorite events. The football game that happened during the eclipse is now lovingly referred to as the “Eclipse Bowl”. Attendance at the on-campus event was approximately 800 people, and approximately 500 people attended the off-campus event at the observatory (which is near the limit of available parking for the facility).

For the “Totality Awesome” pre-eclipse parties: more than 700 RSVPs submitted online totaling 2,000 guests. The email campaign to RSVP’ed guests had an average 68% open rate (significantly higher than typical campaigns). There were 36 donations to scholarships before the first event, 40 donations during the first event, 54 donations in the week between events and during the second event, and 82 donations on April 8 at the Frisco campus event on April 8. These 212 individual donations totaled $4,270, an average donation of $22.

The UNT Frisco Campus Event was the first major event at this satellite campus (opened in 2023). There were around 700 visitors, including 100 members of the UNT Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). The UNT Astronomy Education Program set up a telescope live feed with support from the Division of University Branding Strategy and Communications Media Relations.

There were 99 responses to a post-eclipse survey. For most questions, the response was optional.

• To the question “Did you experience the eclipse in the path of totality”, the responses were: Yes – 83, No – 11.

• To the question “Where did you experience the 2024 total solar eclipse?”, the responses were: Home (yours or friend/family) - 47, UNT Denton campus – 14, Event at museum/school/park - 10, Park/school/church but not at an organized event – 8, Work – 6, other – 12.

• To the question “I am more interested in science after experiencing the eclipse”, the responses were: Agree – 49, Neither agree or disagree – 41, and Disagree – 5.

• To the question “The UNT College of Science Totality Awesome event made me feel prepared for the eclipse”, the responses were: Agree – 47, Neither agree or disagree – 5, and Did not attend – 46.

• To the question “I plan to attend a UNT planetarium show or a UNT Star Party to continue learning about astronomy”, the responses were: Agree – 34, Neither agree or disagree – 9, and Disagree – 4.

• To the question “I am more interested in attending other UNT events because I attended the UNT Totality Awesome Pre-Eclipse Event”, the responses were: Agree – 36, Neither agree or disagree – 9, and Disagree – 2.

Other impacts include increased engagement on UNT social media channels and connection with the community including alumni. For example, a UNT alumna is the Science Curriculum Coordinator in a nearby Independent School District, and we provided glasses for all students in the district. An event for alumni was held at an alumni-owned winery on April 8. Finally, connections between the students, staff, faculty, and administrators that planned the events may lead to future collaborations.

4. Conclusions

Collaboration with groups across campus and a dedicated marketing and communication plan were key to success. Impacts include donations to College of Science Scholarships, increased enrollment in Astro 101 courses, recruitment of physics majors, and new connections in the community. We did not raise enough funds to establish a scholarship for Physics majors with the degree plan including the astrophysics concentration, but we are continuing the search for a donor.

A post-Eclipse survey found that almost half of the respondents viewed the eclipse from a residential location (their home or a friend/family members), and that 88% saw totality. Of those who attended the Totality Awesome events, 90% felt prepared to experience the eclipse after attending the event. Fifty-two percent of respondents indicated that they are more interested in science after experiencing the eclipse. Finally, the Totality Awesome events created a connection with the community – more than half of respondents plan to attend a UNT outreach event to continue to learn about astronomy, and slightly more are interested in attending any UNT event.

Even with the massive media coverage of the eclipse, we found our community members had misunderstandings and misconceptions about all aspects of the eclipse. These ranged from complicated topics like the eclipse glasses (where to get them and when/how to wear them) to basic information like the difference between total and partial eclipses, and the sky would look like during totality. Looking to the next eclipse, we strongly support “pre-eclipse” events like our Totality Awesome events.

One unexpected challenge was that the large gas station Bucc ee’s and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science both donated large numbers of glasses and viewers to local schools in the weeks leading up to the eclipse. We had planned to supply glasses to these groups, and so we had trouble giving away our glasses (that we purchased and those donated to UNT by NASA and the NSF). After donating to a future eclipse location, we still have a few boxes of glasses. We plan to use them for outreach and in a new solar lab for an intro Astro 101 course. The glasses are stored in dark, dry cabinets while they wait!