A lot of people were talking about Slippery Rock University over the weekend after a national TV host mentioned the school’s name.
In an interview with People magazine, Phil McGraw of “Dr. Phil” was asked about the recent college admissions scandal involving celebrities and others who paid to get their children into prestigious schools. “Dr. Phil” said he believed it wasn’t about parents getting an education for their kids- but rather about status.
He said the parents wanted to be able to say their kids went to Harvard or Yale, and not a school like Slippery Rock.
The comment caught the eye of many current and former SRU students- including the school’s president William Behre.
Behre penned an open letter to McGraw on Saturday night. In it, he said SRU is an affordable and accessible public college but it can still change the trajectory of its students’ lives. He pointed to alumni who have gone on to run Fortune 500 companies, become life-saving surgeons and protect America as four-star generals. Behre thanked Dr. Phil for “spotlighting” SRU and invited him to campus this fall.
The letter was “shared”, “retweeted” and “liked” thousands of times on social media, which as you can imagine gave a lot of attention to the comment and relevant social media accounts. Some of them have been using tools like Twesocial (https://www.twesocial.com/twiends-alternative/) beforehand to help manage their accounts. Because of this, they may have received even more followers and attention too after becoming viral. More participants in this “thread” are expecting their “tweets” on the subject to gain popularity too, especially after reading this combin review to help them achieve it. In conclusion, the social media world is capable of many different things. The power of popularity can be a strange motivator, but a motivator nonetheless.
