Michael Wilkinson ’17, Amy Chen ’19, Pia Singh ’19: There has been controversy over whether or not Episcopal Academy upholds the school motto of Esse Quam Videri, or “to be rather than to seem to be,” in their advertising strategies. In nearly all of the pictures publicly posted on the Episcopal school website and in their advertisements, students look well dressed and engaged. However, a quick walk through the library will reveal that over half the students are not doing anything productive. From binge watching Netflix to talking to friends, students are often not what they are made out to be in our school advertisements.
Likewise, when cameras come into the classroom, the environment becomes one in which students are prompted to act more attentive, more engaged and more upbeat.
The photos that are taken and used in our school ads, therefore, depict a skewed impression of the students’ daily experience. As Dr. Delvin Dinkins, Head of the Upper School, said, “We need to [advance our mission] in multiple ways; we need to show that kids are engaged, challenged, and nurtured and that we are, in fact, helping to support students to become purposeful, to demonstrate great integrity and to be people of faith.”
This begs the question, however, is it truthful to always depict this picture to the public when the reality is quite different.
The Communications Office serves a vital role in portraying the EA student experience to prospective families; the advertisements that the Communications Office produces are, therefore, essential factors in the incoming applications at the Admissions Office.
If the ads are “amplified,” then our number of applications will, likewise, be “amplified.” However, the burden of increasing admission does not solely rest on the Communications Office. As Dinkins said, “By virtue of being at an independent school, everyone implicitly has a role, whether it’s recruiting or retaining students… even the students themselves, when they talk about EA to their family or friends, that in and of itself makes them ambassadors of the school.” These instances of students talking to their family and friends occur much more often than you may think. As stated by Bing Quan ‘19, “Whenever I go visit family friends, they always ask me how’s school and I honestly tell them that it’s a heavy course load. I could be more productive with my time, but along with other students, I do end up giving into the surrounding distractions. EA’s advertising campaigns reflect our school life on a daily basis, just with a slightly more optimistic view as I’m sure every other school or business does.” As Quan alluded, Episcopal is certainly not the only institution to give this false impression. But, that does not necessarily mean that it is moral.
When asked about how he felt about Episcopal’s advertising, Dr. Locke, Greville Haslam Head of School, even supports this to a degree as he says, “I think any school in its publications is going to present a very optimistic view of [its] school life… I think you want to have pictures of kids smiling and I’m not naive enough to think that there aren’t times when our kids aren’t smiling or stressed out… but there’s a lot of great things here that we’re proud of, and sharing those with families is really special.”
Dinkins further emphasizes Locke’s point by saying, “I do think that we have students who are optimistic, ready to learn, and attentive. But as with any student, you may not be those three things all the time…At any one point, you may find a student who feels less pessimistic on a given day and more optimistic on a given day… That’s a natural part of being a person… People are complex and so… the pictures and the depictions online are designed to capture that complexity, but to also portray an honest, positive image of the school.”
Scrolling through the advertisements on the Episcopal website, it is evident that our Communications Office has several prime foci: 1) to promote school diversity 2) to promote academic rigor and superiority, and 3) to depict a great student experience. Every photo or video on our website falls into one of these three categories.
When asked about Episcopal’s goals for advertising, Michel Godin, Director of Communications and Strategy, said, “Our messaging typically focuses in on an attribute that strongly represents who we are or what makes us distinctive when compared to other schools. For example, we are well known for our academic rigor. So of course, this will be an attribute we highlight in our advertising. The same goes for other attributes that we highlight like character development, leadership skills, superb facilities, etc.” There is no doubt that Episcopal is academically rigorous, but it is clear that not all students are motivated to do well academically. Therefore, the website should not give the current impression that all students value academic rigor.
Godin acknowledges that “one advertisement could never provide a comprehensive overview of our curriculum, programs school life, etc. This is why we invite interested families to campus, as often as possible, so that they can learn more about us, experience school life first-hand, and talk with current students, faculty, and parents.” In other words, advertisements do not always give the full truth. Experiencing the regular day in an Episcopal student’s life is the best way to judge the school for oneself, and interested parents are more than encouraged to visit the school. However, even on campus, there can be an inaccurate impression. For instance, whenever there is a large event or the key club shows prospective parents around the school, those students where special dress. This leaves a false impression as many students in fact walk around with their shirt untucked and tie hanging loose.
Many institutions give impressions to the public with a half-full lense, and Episcopal is no exception. However, as stated before, this does not make it moral. Episcopal should give a more truthful impression to the public of the daily student experience.