On the first day of orientation this year, Capital administration chose to welcome the new students in a unique way. Rather than reading off the list of faculty and staff at the opening ceremony, the incoming class of 2016 and their families were introduced to the Cap family with a little bit of fun.
This summer, “Call Me Maybe” videos became the latest Internet sensation to hit YouTube after Caryl Rae Jepsen’s eponymous song became an overnight sensation. People everywhere from a small group of friends to a sports team have been filming their own versions of the music video.
Instead of the same boring routine for the opening ceremony, the president’s office had a different idea.
“[At the opening ceremony] we traditionally mark the beginning of a new academic year by introducing ourselves to our newest students.” President Denvy Bowman said. “Instead of reading off a long list of names and offices, we decided this year to do something different—to connect names to faces with the assistance of a short video.”
The result was a music video just over four minutes long that unified numerous students and faculty around campus.
“We hoped to reassure both students and parents that Capital was the right place to be,” Bowman said, “while also encouraging our newest community members to call our campus offices and get in touch with their services.”
The video has been praised all around campus as students are finally able to see the funnier side of faculty and staff members who they usually interact with in very serious settings. Such staff members as the university deans, administration, information technology, facilities, and public safety are seen in the video as inviting and friendly.
For first-year students, the video was presented with captions under each person shown to make it easier to identify them. This was a favorite part of senior Andrew Protopapas who served as one of the student co-directors for orientation this year.
“It paints a really great image of the administration,” he said. “I think this shows that they have a presence on campus and that they love campus as much as the students do.”
Faculty involved in the filming of the video included University Pastor Amy Oehlschlaeger who appeared briefly in the end of the video in front of Kerns.
“I thought it was awesome,” she said. “It was a great way to bring the Capital community together!”
Pastor Oehlschlaeger stressed that the purpose of the video, from her perspective, was strengthening people.
“We’re developing the whole person here at Capital . . . We’re not only developing our students, but we’re also developing as a community of staff, faculty and administration.”
Melvin Adams, director of Student and Community Engagement at Capital, appeared briefly at the front desk of the Student and Community Engagement office and had some similar thoughts.
“It was trying to express that Capital University is a family,” he said. “I think it livened up the perception of Capital University.”
Although on campus there seems to be overwhelming enthusiasm about the video, a few comments made on YouTube about the video were less than friendly. One post from Capital graduate Luann Martin said that she was “a little embarrassed.” And that if she was a prospective student, the video “wouldn’t make me want to go to Cap…sorry.”
Many upperclassmen found the video funny and enjoyed identifying people in the video, but it had a different reaction from many of the first-year students.
“It shows that the faculty is not going to be uptight about things all the time,” said Hayden Brown, first-year student.
Some members of the audience were even more anxious than the new students: their parents.
“I know a lot of parents were really impressed,” Brown continued.
Parent Amy Mendicino brought her daughter Amanda to a visit day on Tuesday and said “I thought it looked like a place where everyone can get involved.”
Mendicino’s daughter Amanda, who is a high school junior from Pittsburgh, said that her opinion of Capital “changed as I saw everyone looking really happy and having a lot of fun!”
Mendicino’s husband Mark also saw the video and cared to comment on what he thought.
“I liked it; it shows that it’s not just a learning institution but also a family. People have fun, both the students and the professors. And they get involved!” He pointed out that one of his favorite memorable scenes was in the dean’s office.
“To get a dean of admissions to do the funky chicken on a video means to me that they are committed to making the university a great place, and it’s evident in the video.”
abutts@capital.edu
