By Daniel Johnson-Kim, Editor in Chief
Students looking to get the word out about activities on and off campus will have to find somewhere beside campus doors, walls and walkways to post advertisements – the university is throwing out the old advertising techniques.
Beginning Wednesday, the university will implement a new policy that prohibits the posting of announcements, advertisements and fliers on sidewalks, doors, walls or trashcans. The policy also prohibits chalk- written announcements on sidewalks.
Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, said the new policy mirrors policies at higher education institutions he and other administrators frequently visit, adding the new policy will help improve the appearance of ACU’s campus.
“It does create a trashy look to parts of the campus after posters have been walked on,” Money said.
Money said Dr. Jean Noel Thompson, vice president and dean for student life, already has a group of ACU staff working on ways to help student groups and students find other methods to advertise events and communicate their messages to the ACU community. Money offered the option of posting advertisements on the MyACU Web page as a good venue to advertise but said he realizes more ways for students to get the word out may be necessary, and Thompson and the Student Life staff will work with students to find affective techniques.
“Here is a campus that is on the cutting edge of technology in higher education, surely we can figure out better and more creative ways to communicate important information,” Money said.
Daniel Paul Watkins, Students’ Association president and senior political science major from Fredericksburg, Va., said when he campaigned for student government, the posters and ads that littered the Campus Center entrances bothered him.
“I think those dirty up the campus and look ugly,” Watkins said.
Watkins said the new policy also might help reduce the waste of paper, which is often thrown out or ignored. He said he also was glad to hear the Student Life office was eager to help students and student groups find alternative and possibly innovative methods to advertise on campus.
“The consumer is changing, so it seems like the marketing to that consumer should change as well,” Watkins said.
But not all students think the new policy is a good move.
Stephanie Robles, senior psychology major from Mesquite and president of Hispanos Unidos, said the new policy drastically would diminish student groups’ ability to advertise upcoming campus events. She said she does not believe the advertisements on glass doors and sidewalks make the campus look “cluttered,” and instead they generate a feeling that things are actively happening on campus.
“I understand they want [the campus] to look clean and nice, but how are student organizations supposed to effectively advertise and make it welcoming to students?” Robles said.
Although she is critical of the policy, Robles admitted it may be a good opportunity to test what advertising will work on campus. “I guess we can try it out and see,” Robles said. “It could be a good experiment and see what works and what doesn’t.”
