One public relations class set up a model dorm triple in the Tavern and marched around Ward Circle April 22 to mobilize student support for the Campus Plan as part of their final projects.
School of Communication Professor Pallavi Kumar’s “Public Relations Case Studies” class, charged with marketing the plan to the student body, asked students to “tweet” their support and sign online letters.
The Tavern triple — complete with beds, desks, alarm clocks and posters — served to remind students that a main focus of the plan is an increase in undergraduate housing, including turning the Nebraska Parking Lot into an East Campus to house 765 students.
“It was more than, ‘here, do a plan for a made-up company,’” Kumar said of the class using AU as a client. “AU has to mobilize students … who better?”
Emmy Greenberger, an SOC junior in the class, said from a top bunk in the mock triple that she believes the triple visualized the plan for students.
“I think that it’s a great demonstration,” Sonia Gaillis-Delepine, an SOC junior in the class, said. “For the tuition that you’re paying, it’s important to have your own personal space.”
Jill Gurich, also an SOC junior in the class, said from a desk in the triple that the new D.C. noise ordinance might play a role in neighbor relations.
“Noise can be an issue, but at the same time, you have to remember it’s a college campus,” she said.
Carolyn Capern, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, said AU should listen to the neighbors, but not at the cost of student life.
AU is a growing institution, she said, and it’s not fair to students to be stuck in cramped quarters.
sdazio@theeagleonline.com
