Through Murky Waters: Beyond attention
Campus orgs must further develop their reason for being
By Alex Sirney, senior writer
Posted on November 16, 2006

Students are constantly bombarded with information about what campus groups are doing, but the reasons behind this invasion of the JMU student’s daily commute are rooted in some weary ideas about publicity on campus — ideas that sorely need to be re-examined if a group wants to impact students instead of fall on deaf ears.

The many organizations on campus all struggle, at some point, with making themselves relevant to students. Some are much more niche-driven, and those generally don’t have as much trouble because their members seek them out. These groups don’t need the strategic help that groups trying to rally support do.

It seems those groups are stuck in a rut of “raising awareness” of their particular cause — a noble idea, to be sure, but not one that can ultimately achieve an organization’s goals. Awareness in and of itself can only be a means to an end; students must be presented with an outlet for their newfound awareness or all their information will simply get lost among the noise of the next “awareness campaign.”

Once a group has raised awareness — and there is a limit to how many people can be reached this way — it must present some tangible call to action to the public. This could take many forms and will hopefully reflect the organization’s goal, be it raising money for cancer, cultural education or any of the countless other worthy causes on campus.

Organizations cannot simply institute some program that is relevant to their goals, however. A call to action must still appeal to the target audience or, once again, it will be lost among the noise on campus. Guest speakers, forums and the like should be carefully selected so they will draw more than just the members of the hosting group, lest the group gets stuck with a glorified and outrageously expensive group meeting.

All these problems center on somehow getting students who are perceived as apathetic to care about an issue or at least to pause long enough to hear a message. Sometimes all that is needed is a slight change in wording — any awareness week could become a fund drive, or a drive for increasing education, support or membership. None of these things can be achieved through awareness alone and, rather than conjuring up images of dry, condescending lectures, they offer ways to actually do something useful. The term “awareness” itself is not only dysfunctional but also a turnoff from a marketing perspective. People are often already aware of an issue, or as aware as they are going to be from a campaign and may resent being preached at — it is far better to present something tangible, useful and actionable to the public than simply throw out information.

The entire attitude toward hosting a program on campus needs to change to reflect that the host is waging a marketing campaign based on selling an idea, whatever the rallying point for the organization may be. If a group can teach or send its message while entertaining or helping its audience, it stands a much better chance of furthering its cause. It is a shame that the inherent nobility of a cause is not enough to draw an audience, but it is reality in the age of constant media bombardment. Groups that know how to market themselves and have tangible goals will be able to rise above the noise of the commons and actually make a difference on campus.

Alex Sirney is a senior anthropology and media arts and design major.