Made-Over: Cornell’s Improved Image
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Communications campaign has played role in University’s media position
August 23, 2007 - 11:00pmCornell University has experienced a spate of publicity: Newsweek named the University “Hottest Ivy” and the motto earned recognition by Motto Magazine.
Radar Magazine, an offbeat commentary magazine, also named Cornell “Worst Ivy.” But any press is good press, no?
A four-year revving up of the University’s P.R. machine — known as University Communications — has played a role in the bright spotlight the media has been shining on Cornell. Cornell’s image in the media can be attributed, in part, to the work of the Cornell University Image Committee, a committee in the Student Assembly, and the April 2004 hiring of the first vice president of communications, Tommy Bruce. Bruce said that he worked closely with the Committee “a few generations ago.”
“From the website to admissions materials to the presence of terrific stories to the press, communications has become more effective in getting out the best possible message about the University,” said Peter S. Cohl ’05, co-founder of the Cornell University Image Committee.
“When I was first hired, my charge was to organize the team of people that make up the University Communications, to re-make the Cornell logo and to replace the website,” Bruce said.
Bruce described Cornell’s website of four years ago as a “forbidding and ineffective operation.” Before the creation of Cornell’s current website, Bruce said that he found Google searches more effective for finding information about Cornell.
Four years ago, cornell.edu received fifteen million hits per year; the site traffic has approximately quadrupled since then, according to Bruce.
“I liked the website because there were pictures of students on every page, while other Universities had pictures of the campus or professors,” said Polina Danilyuk ’11.
Cornell University Image Committee image currently has three main initiatives, said Luke Chernosky ’08, chair of the committee.
“We’re exploring the ways Cornell can improve financial aid and minority recruitment,” Chernosky said. “We also are in huge support of the capital campaign, as a successful campaign allows for more resources at Cornell, which is a way to improve all aspects of the University.”
Cornell’s endowment per student is less than peer institutions, Chernosky said. However, he put a positive spin on the financial statistics: “Cornell offers more bang for the buck.”
Heather Grantham ’06, the chair of the Cornell University Image Committee from 2004 to 2006, said that during her tenure the Committee concentrated on Cornell’s image in the media.
Bruce cited statistics about the appearance of Cornell in the press, aside from sports articles: from 2003 to 2004, there were 11,000 articles; from 2005 to 2006 the number increased to 35,692; from 2006 to 2007 the number then increased to 42,399.
Homepage hits increased at a rate similar to that of the press hits. There were 993,000 hits on the Cornell website in April 2003. In April 2007 there were 1,770,234 unique hits, a 78 percent increase.
Before Bruce’s hiring, Cornell did not have a press office; Bruce said that he had to “create strategies to build Cornell’s image in the media.”
The October 2004 re-vamping the University’s logo — when the Red Box reminiscent of the J.C. Penny logo was transformed into a simplified Cornell seal — helped unite the seven colleges of the University, according to Bruce.
According to an article in The Sun, at the time of the release of the new logo, the University was suffering in the rankings.
Bruce said that four years ago, because few people in the University liked the logo, Cornell units used their own logos.
The designing and utilization of a widely liked logo helped the public grasp how much — and what exactly — goes on at one institution.
“The new logo helped connect the dots that are Cornell in people’s mind,” Bruce said.