CosmoGirl cover out of place

For several weeks, http://www.rose-hulman.edu has featured a large box linking to a news article about Rose-Hulman’s recent placement on CosmoGirl magazine’s “100 Best Colleges” list. The article itself is well written, and while it is good that Rose is being given national recognition in yet another publication, the choice of graphics used in the article is both unprofessional and unnecessary.

The picture displayed with the news article (which is only one click away from Rose’s front page) is the cover of an issue of CosmoGirl. It is difficult to ascertain whether it is the issue containing the list of “100 Best Colleges” because there is no mention of it on this particular cover. There are, however, headlines for other articles in the issue, including:

“5 Moves to a Hotter Body”

“Crazy Ex-Boyfriends: How to Deal When He Won’t Leave You Alone”

“Quiz: Do you fall in love too fast?”

“Blake Lively: Find Out Her Secret Addiction”

“What He Tells His Friends After You Hook Up”

These headlines, while typical and desirable content for the magazine’s target audience, are not what is ordinarily seen on an official college website. Nor do they inspire confidence in the CosmoGirl staff’s assessment of colleges or justify Rose’s pride in their assessment.

After doing a little research on CosmoGirl’s selection process, it seems legitimate (albeit focused on the concerns of a specific audience, which is to be expected from a magazine devoted to a specific audience): the data they used was collected by The Princeton Review, a recognized source in college assessment. However, the CosmoGirl staff then chose to release their findings in an issue fronted by headlines such as those mentioned.

While this does not lend credibility to their assessment, it was their choice as journalists to mix these two disparate themes into their publication. They didn’t have to, but they chose to. Similarly, Rose-Hulman does not have to mix CosmoGirl’s typical teenage themes with their college assessments. We can choose instead to promote only the material which lends credit to the Institute and not publish that which we know adds nothing to our reputation and perhaps even detracts from it.

Rose’s recognition as a top school in the country is a great accomplishment and should be celebrated. The news article on the Institute’s webpage is one excellent way to do this, as it enables those both familiar and unfamiliar with Rose-Hulman to learn about it. However, when they show a picture of the magazine’s usual content along with this news, it makes the reader question both the magazine’s credibility in conducting such a study and the Institute’s judgment in posting such content.