As part of its “Stop Guessing, Start Eating” campaign to raise Boston University student awareness of its services, the Student Union provided free food to students yesterday at BU Central.
About 200 students helped themselves to free food and beverages from Raising Cane’s, Qdoba, Blue State Coffee and other local vendors between 12 and 2 p.m. Episodes of “House” aired on the screen for students to watch as they ate.
“Start Eating” marks the second event in the campaign, which Union members said aims to raise awareness about their website and resources such as textbook swapping and the Union blog.
“The BUS tracking service is really popular, but I think people are confused as to where to get help and find out about things around campus,” said College of Arts and Sciences senior Daniel Ellis, Union executive vice president. “Stop Guessing is about getting students to stop wondering about where to find these services.”
Many students in BU Central claimed not to know much about Union, or why they were offering free food.
CAS sophomore Leticia Laines also said she was not familiar with Union’s services.
“Honestly, I think most students don’t know what the Union does,” Laines said. “I think it’s great that [Union members] are doing this because the Union’s supposed to be the voice of the students, and we need to take advantage of that.”
Others just enjoyed the food.
“I mean, I had never tried Pad Thai before, so the Student Union helped me discover that,” said Michelle Hayward, a freshman in the College of Communication.
The campaign addresses rebranding one of Union’s three goals in improving its image and relationship with the BU community, said Arthur Emma, CAS senior and Union president.
Emma said last year’s executive board had trouble meeting its goals and cooperating with the administration. Over the summer, the 2010-11 executive board worked on reviving Union by rebranding the group’s image, repairing its relationship with the administration and rebuilding its infrastructure.
At the beginning of the semester, CAS senior Vinny Squillace, a Union spokesman, pitched the campaign idea as a way for Union to advertise the website and for students to get a sense of BU culture outside of campus.
“While BU doesn’t have one specific culture, it has many cultures built into a bigger community,” Squillace said. “I’m not concerned so much about the success of [the event], as I am about spreading a sense of community.”
After kicking off the campaign with “Condoms and Roses” on Valentine’s Day, Union decided to further its efforts through social networks and through offline initiatives.
“The point there is to get people to stop wondering about whose going to help you,” Squillace said. “Over time, we expect to see the page visits to increase and for students to start giving feedback. We hope to prove that we should be the organization they go to.”
