Rachel Crowl, web content and new media coordinator, and Rob Neilson, associate professor of art and Frederick R. Layton Professor of Art, with one of the student-designed manhole covers

From move-in day and the annual Midwest Trivia Contest to Björklunden and Senior Experience, the weekly This Is Lawrence video series strives to highlight the people, programs and places that make Lawrence distinctive.

One This Is Lawrence video, “The Compassion Project: Manhole Covers,” recently received a distinction of its own—a 2011 Pride of CASE V Gold Award in the “Best Video Feature” category. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) honors institutions and individuals for outstanding achievement in the concept and execution of advancement programs and communications.

The 3-minute-33-second video, produced by Web Content and New Media Coordinator Rachel Crowl, follows Associate Professor of Art and Frederick R. Layton Professor of Art Rob Neilson and his students as they work on a public art project over the course of several weeks. Inspired by the Appleton Compassion Project, Neilson challenged students to depict their own definitions of compassion ondesigns for manhole covers. The covers were then cast at Neenah Foundry and installed along the sidewalk of College Avenue in downtown Appleton and displayed in the Warch Campus Center.

The idea behind the award-winning video was to capture the innovative way that Neilson and his students participated in the project and to highlight their artistic work. Making the video involved the challenge of getting footage in a working foundry with varying light levels, moving parts and loud sounds.

“[Crowl’s] work has an artistic quality that helps Lawrence tell stories with an aesthetically pleasing style, while also being creative, authentic and often fun,” said Cal Husmann, vice president for alumni, development and communications.

Started in 2009, the This Is Lawrence video series is one of the most visible examples of how Lawrence is working to engage the college’s different constituencies. On Fridays throughout the academic year, the short videos are distributed to a growing list of 14,000 alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents and prospective students and their parents.

“We see the beauty of This is Lawrence when prospective students tell us about the video they really liked—and 10 different students cite ten different videos,” Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Ken Anselment said. “It’s a way for our prospective students to get a bunch of thin slices of Lawrence life.”

The videos are popular on campus too. “I think my personal favorite things are that so many students can hum the This Is Lawrence tune without thinking,” Crowl said. “And that students get excited to be a part of one. It’s infectious.”

 

To see the award-winning video, visit www.YouTube.com/LawrenceUniversity and click on the link for This Is Lawrence—The Compassion Project: Manhole Covers