Stickers Denounce Independent Ivy

By Carrie McCarthy
Assistant News

One thousand small orange stickers proclaiming ‘I DO NOT ATTEND THE INDEPENDENT IVY’ were pasted all over campus on Sunday and Monday, re-igniting the debate over the University’s current marketing slogan. The protest was initiated by a newly formed student task force devoted to persuading the Administration to drop its use of the slogan "Wesleyan University: The Independent Ivy".

"This is an issue that came up because of student dissatisfaction. I don’t know any students who are happy with it," said Scott Cavanaugh ’99, who with Greg Brodsky ’99 spearheaded the sticker campaign. "We needed to have something that [the Administration] can see."

The task force placed stickers around campus and handed them out to students in front of the campus center. The group encourages students to wear the stickers and then place them somewhere on campus. Many stickers that were put up on Sunday night were discovered missing early Monday morning.

"We think that someone in the Administration made the decision that these stickers shouldn’t be up," Brodsky said. "It’s sad that they won’t claim responsibility. In the course of three hours 300 of our stickers were removed while other months-old stickers weren’t touched. Obviously we touched a raw nerve."

Last year, an independent marketing consultant Mark Edwards was hired to create a catch-phrase for Wesleyan, an effort initiated by the Bennet administration to improve Wesleyan’s image. Edwards recommend the slogan "The Independent Ivy" last January and it is currently included in admissions materials.

Brodsky and Cavanaugh decided over the summer to use stickers to protest the slogan. Both said that they wanted to ensure that Wesleyan students’ rejection of the slogan was visible to the Administration.

"It’s amazing that no one on this campus likes the slogan, but no one seems to be doing anything about it," Brodsky said. "So we thought that stickers would be kind of a fun way to protest."

At a task force meeting Sunday night, approximately 25 students decided to begin an anti-Independent Ivy campaign by sparking discussion about the ivy issue on campus. In the future, the task force hopes to convince the University to drop the slogan altogether, and perhaps pen an alternative one that better suits Wesleyan.

"My focus right now is ridding the University of this slogan," Cavanaugh said. "I see this school as wanting to be something it’s not. We’re never going to win the ‘we’re a better Ivy League school than you game,’ but how we can win is by saying ‘we’re Wesleyan and we have strengths other schools don’t have’, and that’s what should be played up."

Most students on campus support their effort and the slogan’s few supporters are hard to find. Most "Independent Ivy" fans do not have strong opinions on the choice of a slogan.

"I think the Independent Ivy is fine," said Shawn Lemerise ’02. "If that’s what they want to call us let them call us that."

Dean of Admissions Barbara-Jan Wilson said that the stickers did not upset her, provided that they were not stuck to places where they couldn’t be removed.

"I think that students here are terribly creative," she said.

Wilson said that the point of the slogan was to provide something tangible about Wesleyan for prospective students to grasp. She said that the word independent refers to Wesleyan’s support of freedom of expression, while the word ivy is an internationally accepted term for a prestigious institution.

Wilson said that every year Wesleyan loses qualified students because of a lack of name recognition. She said that she did not think that student uproar over the slogan would have a negative effect on prospective students.

"I think students looking at Wesleyan will find it interesting," she remarked.

Both Wilson and Director of Public Information Bill Holder emphasized that the slogan was being used by the office of admission on a trial basis and that it would be necessary to give it some time before evaluating the results.

"We’re currently testing the Independent Ivy in admissions because research shows that is where it may have some value for Wesleyan," Holder said on behalf of the Administration. "Evaluating its effectiveness will be a long process, one that will take at least two years. At this point we’re not sure how we’ll go about evaluating it."

Many students, faculty and alumni said that they dislike the slogan because they do not think that the phrase Independent Ivy accurately represents Wesleyan.

"Instead of changing the slogan to ‘The Independent Ivy’, we should have put some teeth into ‘Diversity University’," said Alice Hadler, adjunct professor of English and director of academic support services for international students. "I think that Independent Ivy sounds defensive. Why do we have to be ivy anything?"

"There are enough positive attributes about Wesleyan to create an original slogan," said Jed Koslow ’99.

Walter Abrams ’69 said that the slogan sounded demeaning to Wesleyan by trying to cash in on another school’s reputation.

"You get the feeling that it’s trying to edge in on the Ivies," he said. "I did not attend ‘The Independent Ivy’."

Other students are upset that the Administration did not seek more input from students before even testing the Independent Ivy as an Admissions slogan.

"I care about both the image of our school and the fact that students who are here, that their feedback be heard," said Katie Davis ’01. "And that our image is something we define, not our Administration."

"We need to start a precedent that they can’t make up a slogan about us without our input," said Katie Theroux ’01.

Students also view it as part of a larger trend in which the Administration consistently ignores the opinion of students in making policy decisions.

"The reason why I’m weary of [the Independent Ivy] campaign is because I am worried that it’s part of a larger campaign to bleach Wesleyan out — to depoliticize it and take away any distinctive dissenting elements," said Nina Haiman ’99.

Wilson said that she encourages student suggestions and hopes to initiate a discussion about pros and cons of the slogan. She said that, as of yet, no student groups had come forward to discuss the slogan with her.

"I think it would be terrific if students could come up with something else that worked," Wilson said.

According to Brodsky, the task force is currently out of stickers but an order for more has been placed and the next batch of stickers will be arriving on campus soon.