Cease use of MSMC Music Video
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Dear Admissions Office of Mount St. Mary’s College,
We, the undersigned, would like to express our discontent with the recent marketing strategy the Mount has taken to encourage students to apply for admission to our alma mater. We feel the “MSMC Music Video” does not exude the academic rigor of our school nor is it representative of our diverse student body. The video focuses on non-academic features of our school such as closeness to the city, dual campuses, transportation, facilities, and views from Chalon. While these were positive perks of attending the Mount these were not the reasons why we chose to attend. We chose the Mount because of its academic reputation within the community, close working relationships with our professors, and for some, its Catholic tradition, which was not even mentioned in the video.
MSMC should aim to continue to attract bright and independent thinking women through mediums that are appropriate to their intellect. We feel it was inappropriate and offensive to have a young female dancing as a way to entice future women leaders to attend the Mount. Potential students are looking for a college that can challenge them academically, support them spiritually, and provide them with better opportunities after graduation: none of which was expressed in the video. We suggest that the Mount’s next marketing strategy should focus on exhibiting the internships that students have gotten, the number of students having jobs at the time of graduation, the graduate programs that students have chosen to attend, and the achievements of MSMC’s alumna.
Finally, with a diverse population at Mount St. Mary’s that is 46% Hispanic, 16% Asian-Pacific Islander, 9% African American, and 14% who have claimed to be multiracial or other, we are puzzled as to why the face that MSMC has chosen to represent our school in the video is not a member of a minority group. For a school that prides itself on diversity we are disappointed that it has succumbed itself to the same marketing techniques of Hollywood. Many of the alumni who are members of a minority group felt isolated by our own alma mater.
We, as alumni, faculty, staff, family, and friends, of Mount St. Mary’s College, genuinely concerned with the reputation of school and our degrees, would request the school cease using the video as a marketing tool and to refocus their efforts on strategies that are more reflective of the school’s caliber.
Respectfully yours,
Sponsor
*UPDATE 4.24.2012: MSMC Music Video has been taken down off YouTube.
4.23.2012: Petition emailed to Office of Admissions with 88 Signatures with the same petition text.
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