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Frosh parents receive email solicitation

A number of parents filed complaints with the Office of University Relations last week following receipt of a solicitation mailed under the guise of a personal note from the University regarding their child.

The note directed parents to access a web site with their child’s name in the address, and then, purporting psychological concerns, encouraged the parents to send their child a basket of candy for final exams.

"[It was] a very sneaky ad disguised as something very important and very personal from Wesleyan," said Christina Smillie, mother of Katherine Standish ’03, in an email to University Relations.

Smillie described her confusion as she read what appeared to be a formal note urging her to access a security pass-worded web site using her daughter’s name.

"‘Please access immediately.’ Now what could this be? Was Kate up for some kind of award?" Smillie said.

The web site Smillie subsequently accessed started with a letterhead reading "Serving the Parents of Wesleyan University Freshmen." It then continued by raising concerns for her daughter’s psychological welfare.

"Tonight your daughter is only 11 days away from her final exams–an incredibly stressful time that will judge her and determine [her] success... this is really a difficult moment for a young woman far away from home," the web site read.

The web site went on to define final exams as the second leading cause of depression and self-esteem issues among college freshmen.

"Wow, doesn’t that sound like the University psychologists or the Dean’s staff really cares about the psychological well being of their students?" Smillie said.

Smillie caught on to the marketing ploy, however, when subsequent paragraphs turned into a sales pitch for a gift basket described as a "Cram night snack attack!"

"I was shocked and disgusted with the whole concept of what was advertised and how they advertised it," said Katherine Standish who learned of the marketing ploy via the same email her mother sent to University Relations. "It was so totally unrealistic, and it had really strange undertones."

"What a concept, what a message, to be there for my daughter... I am going to encourage her to cram, to stay up all night, and to eat expensive junk! Now that ought to help her do well," Smillie said.

University Relations denied any part in the marketing ploy.

"I learned about this from a parent," said Director of Parent Programs at University Relations Meg Zocco. "It had nothing to do with Wesleyan. We had no knowledge of it and had granted no consent."

Zocco could only speculate as to how the soliciting company could have obtained Wesleyan parents’ email addresses.

"They could have collected this information from public databases or maybe even from paper documents, the good old fashioned way," Zocco said. "Our databases are all password and security protected. We don’t provide outside agencies with database information [contractual arrangements including those with laundry services excepted]."

According to Zocco, this is not the first time companies have used information to misrepresent Wesleyan.

"With all of the new technology I expect we might be seeing more abuses like this in general," Zocco said.

University Relations is pending a decision to send out a letter of clarification to all frosh class parents who may have received similar solicitations.