COLUMN: Norwegian recruiting needs improvement
A very long time ago I wrote a column about how we must be offending Norway because there are no Norwegian students at USU. Though the column did attract some mean-spirited comments from someone who thought that I was dissing Norwegians (um … wouldn’t that contradict the point of my article?), I did not take my own content in the column very seriously. Though I described several areas where we could improve our image when it comes to prospective Norwegian students, I suspected the real reason they did not attend USU was because they had never heard of it or cared about it. For my part, I had never met a Norwegian before, and I never really expected to meet one, and I dare say that the same could be said of a Norwegian about me. Though I seriously doubt a Norwegian has longed to see a Utahn as much as I have dreamt about meeting one of them.
All of that changed the moment I came to Costa Rica for Study Abroad. As our group of international students were introducing ourselves at the beginning of the semester, one of them claimed to be from Norway. I was shocked, astonished, and, of course, suspicious that I was on some kind of twisted form of Candid Camera where they pull cruel jokes on Norwegian-people-seekers. I somehow held back my initial urge to ask her if I could take a picture with her, and possibly have a strand of her hair or fingernail clipping or something, but soon found my shock was nothing compared to what was to come. The next student also happened to be from Norway. Then a couple students later, another one, and then another. To date, I have met just under a dozen Norwegians. Though they do their best to keep their distance from me, and understandably so, considering my frank, and somewhat scary, obsession with their country, I have to admit I have never been happier in all of my life.
As I thought about this more, however, I realized my initial theory of Norwegians not attending USU because it was a small college in some unknown state, had suddenly been completely discredited. I mean, really. If someone across the globe has heard about the small nation of Costa Rica and decided to go to one of its universities, then I must fall back on my disregarded theory that we at USU must be doing something to offend the Norwegians.
If this is the case, then all of the points I addressed, somewhat lightheartedly, in my original column must apply, and I urge you to go research it out. However, considering someone does happen to dig it up out of Statesman archives, in an effort to not get caught plagiarizing myself (my editor told me that due to the mind-numbing nature of my columns, they would never allow me to repeat a column), I will instead try to expand on one point that I only touched upon quickly last time. Basically, I think our solution could be found with revamping our recruiting. I should be honest. I do not know, exactly, how USU recruiting works. But before I propose drastic reforms, I should point out that many things they do already is very useful, as I have been told that they do their best to hide all Statesman copies from potential students whenever my column appears in it.
Now, also before I make my recruiting suggestions, I have a couple, revealing rhetorical questions I think you should ponder, which could shed some light on our impending solution. How many USU brochures do you know of that are translated into the Norwegian language? How many Norwegian flags are hanging in the International Lounge? And the follow-up question to that: Is one enough? What is student awareness of Norwegian current events? And finally, how many of you are still thinking Norway is one of Canada’s eastern provinces?
I think if each one of us asks ourselves these same questions each morning when we wake up, that alone will help us to make incredible advances in our recruiting program. But I also feel there are other methods we could embrace as well. For example, considering Norway has hosted two Winter Olympics, I do not think it would be a bad idea to turn Old Main Hill into a winter park, including ski lifts and ski jumps, luge runs, and downhill curling (new version of the sport). Instead of limiting ourselves to becoming a True Aggie on a full moon, we could proudly announce the option of becoming a “True Norwegian” on every other phase of the moon. Our football and basketball teams could focus their recruiting primarily on Norwegian stars of those respective sports (yes, football may not be popular there, but that would just make weeding through the potential recruits easier). Large loads of Aggie Ice Cream could be shipped to Norway on the condition that a bunch of Norwegians come back with the boat. OK, maybe that is getting desperate, but I am just brainstorming here.
Interestingly enough, I just showed this column to one of the Norwegians here, and she said she was very tempted to attend USU next semester, assuming one particular change in its current curriculum. Though it was a sacrifice, I agreed to her stipulation.
Incidentally, and completely off the subject, I may not be attending USU next semester.
Marty Reeder is a senior majoring in history education. Any comments or prospective Norwegian brochure sketches can be sent to martr@cc.usu.edu.