Bush Mocked in Canadian University Ad
Aug. 29, 2006
Posters and a Web site mocking President Bush have put the spotlight on a small Ontario university that thought a bold and edgy recruiting campaign was just the ticket to attract potential students.
The Web site, http://www.yaleshmale.com, has a black and white picture of Bush, with the caption: "Graduating from an Ivy League university doesn't necessarily mean you're smart."
Bush graduated from Yale in 1968.
A link takes viewers to a site for Lakehead University, in rugged Thunder Bay, Ontario, some 1,375 km (850 miles) northwest of Toronto.
"It was literally a tongue-in-cheek way of getting attention," Frederick Gilbert, president and vice-chancellor of Lakehead University, said on Monday.
"The young people picked it up that way," he added. "I must say that older generations, well even some of our students, have looked at it as not appropriate."
Gilbert said there have been more than 7,000 hits on the Web site, and online comments were about 95 percent positive. But e-mail messages to him and the university's communications staff are "running in the opposite direction" and that is a concern, he said.
Isabelle Poniatowski, president of the Lakehead University Student Union, called the marketing campaign low-brow and lacking in class.
"It still strikes me as being very repugnant," Poniatowski said. "Lakehead has so many positive attributes that you could really sell to people that live down south."
In a weekend editorial called "Jughead University," the right-wing National Post newspaper wrote: "It is a serious mistake for Lakehead to try to inflate its own appeal by attacking other, far more prestigious institutions."
Lakehead has some 7,600 students in professional, arts and science programs.
Gilbert said Lakehead plans to ride out the public relations storm without removing the posters or taking down the Web site.
"You don't undo the damage that has been done, if there's damage, by simply retracting," he said, adding the school will try to respond individually to people who expressed concerns.
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