About four years ago, New York University students walked to class hoping they would run into Mary Kate Olsen, catch a sighting of Haley Joel Osment on the elevator or sit in on a Tisch class with Mara Wilson. Even Hilary Duff, who is a guest star on Gossip Girl, is playing a famous star who comes to NYU to have a "normal" college experience, inspired by Emma Watson's enrollment at Brown this past fall. It is not only Tisch that attracts these stars, but NYU is the home of the avante-garde and artistically creative. Even students in CAS often seem to have a guitar in hand, making it even more likely that somewhere down the line that NYU students are headed for stardom. NYU is the place where celebrities come to attend school or at least where they start out.
"NYU student" Hilary Duff on the set of Gossip Girl
It seems like Lady Gaga has no problem returning to NYU for
a guest appearance in Gossip Girl's newest episode this Monday.
However, it seems that these days NYU is going gaga for more than Lady Gaga, who was also enrolled at NYU before she hit it big. This past week, Emma Thompson, Matt Damon and Spike Lee were on campus, making it seem more than a natural coincidence that they happened to be here at the same time. On Tuesday, the British star Emma Thompson alongside Mayor Bloomberg, opened her art exhibit "JOURNEY" with a high-profile press conference. Emma Thompson's walk-through exhibit told the story of a 19-year old girl who was beaten and forced into sex trafficking.
This week, as a part of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute "Primary Sources" series, Spike Lee discussed his work with NYU writer-in-residence James McBride.
Matt Damon contributed to a discussion of a History Channel documentary entitled, "The People Speak." NYU, Cooper Union and the History Channel sponsored the event called "The People Speak Live."
It is from each of these project that demonstrate NYU's use of star power to not only to attract attention in the media and boost its reputation, but more specifically to grab the attention of students who are filling out the last of their college applications as Thanksgiving break approaches. This presence of the celebrity on the campus of New York University not only popularizes the college experience here, but makes prospective students believe that NYU is the place where they'll someday find fame. Celebrity endorsements are not only for fashion, cars and electronics, but for institutions of higher education.
No comments:
Post a Comment