Students in a design practice course are doing more than just asking others to pick up their trash today by staking out trashcans on campus for their "DUDE, Pick Up Your SH*T" campaign.
Adjunct professor of the course, Matt Young, assigned students to come up with an initiative for a design campaign that would have a visible impact in a real world setting.
"We saw a lot of trash on campus on a regular basis. We thought that would be something that was non-opinionated, non-political, and I think everyone can get behind that they want the campus to look cleaner and more attractive," Young said.
The goal of the class was to present the suggestion of picking up trash on campus in a way that didn't sound as if it was coming from an authority figure—like the administration—but from fellow students.
Weeks were spent on word choice for the campaign. "I'm not your mom; Pick up your trash," was considered, but Young said the class thought that sounded as if it was coming from parents and was still not the "right motivation" for students.
"The primary reason for the expletive in the title is that we assume if someone saw that poster they would be more apt to verbally tell other students about it for that specific reason," Young said. "It's not meant to be controversial; it's meant to be an attention grabber."
Senior graphic design major Chris Fiveash is one of 13 students working on the campaign. He said the class went with a guerilla marketing strategy by not informing the administration beforehand.
"We feel like the asterisk in the title censors it enough. We thought that would be the best way to catch people's attention, and maybe the cause will be more important than how we got their attention."
Thought not meant to be controversial, Young said he expects some to be shocked by the campaign. He said he hopes the administration can understand this is not a permanent thing on campus, but only four hours of one day.
Students in the class will be posted at trashcans outside the University Center and the Tiger Den today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. They'll ask students to accept a challenge of throwing away their own trash and any debris they walk past on campus.
Anyone who accepts the challenge will get a button that says, "I picked up my sh*t," and their photo will be posted on the group's Facebook event page.
Each of the 13 students donated their own money to promote the campaign. T-shirts and buttons were printed with the catch phrase and Young, who owns a design firm, got the posters and flyers donated.
Curt Crocker, junior graphic design major, said participating in the campaign is going to be fun and he hopes students take away the importance of picking up trash on campus.
"We need to take pride in this campus, where we spend so much time. It's a beautiful campus and there is no reason why there should be so much trash at the table you're eating lunch at," he said.
