By Iandra Estupinian

Vice President of University Engagement, Erin Edlund, explains the importance she and her marketing team place on DEI in Morningside's marketing materials.

Estupinian

“What kind of marketing strategies/tactics does the Marketing department use to bring in new students to Morningside?”

Edlund

“My department works closely with admissions to develop a wide variety of materials that include the website, videos, brochures, pamphlets, viewbooks, posters, giveaways, and much more. While all the materials have an important purpose, one of our primary focuses is on encouraging students and their supporters to make an in-person visit to campus. Much in the way that seeing a home in-person or test driving a car to know if it is really right for you, the campus visit is often the best way for a student to really get a feel for what life at Morningside might be like for them. For that reason, we focus a lot of our marketing efforts on encouraging campus visits.”

Estupinian

“When creating new marketing materials, what important factors do you and your team consider? “

Edlund

“One of the most important considerations is that we do what we can to help students see themselves in the Morningside experience. Telling stories, sharing testimonials, capturing video and photos are all vital to making that happen. From there, we work hard to collaborate with different departments on campus to make sure we are sharing information that works for their audience. Sometimes that’s describing what a department is like, or it might be talking about a process or procedure a department.”

Estupinian

“What is the process like of choosing which students or faculty to feature in your marketing material?”

Edlund

“There are many variables that go into a decision about who to feature. We often ask faculty, coaches, and others for recommendations about individuals they feel represent a particular program or department. When possible, we also directly ask students to self-submit themselves if they want to take part in marketing initiatives. For example, we feature student testimonials on social media, and those are collected by asking students via email and social media to submit their name and testimonial if they wish. We often incentivize this process with a drawing for a gift card. Our hope in doing that is to capture students who we might not otherwise encounter on-campus or through the recommendation process. Other times, students are selected because of something they have achieved. For example, students who win awards or are representing their department in conferences or events are often selected for feature because of those achievements.”

Estupinian

“Does the Marketing department make it a top priority to feature students and faculty of different race, ethnicity, and gender within the marketing material? Why do you think it’s important or not to feature individuals who fall in any of these categories?”

Edlund

“My department strives to be very mindful of the work we are putting out and how that represents our student population. Again, I think one of the most important aspects of the work my team does is to try and tell as many stories as we can so students can see themselves in some way through the stories of other students, faculty, and staff. We have had many conversations about how to make sure photos and video represent the diversity of our student body without misrepresenting it. The bottom line is, though, we need to continue to find ways to show a wide range of our students as possible, because we want all students to feel welcome, seen, and heard at Morningside.”

Estupinian

“Have you ever received any complaints about the marketing material that Morningside produces? How did you and your team handle it?”

Edlund

“The only thing that comes to mind is that we once had a student of color who wanted their image removed from materials after they had participated in a marketing initiative. We respected that choice and removed that individual from the places we could, but it couldn’t be removed from everywhere.”

Estupinian

“This project is based on educating the community about the importance of strengthening diversity, equity, and inclusion on Morningside campus. In your own opinion, do you believe Morningside has done a good job of meeting the DEI areas or needs improvement? Does the Marketing department have any plans to help aid in these areas?”

Edlund

“While I think Morningside has taken some important steps forward in relationship to diversity, equity, and inclusion on Morningside’s campus, there is no question we can do more. It’s work that has to be done across the campus community, though, through conversation and action that takes place at a higher level than just marketing. As far as my own team goes, though, we want to do everything we can to move diversity, equity, and inclusion forward as it relates to the areas I oversee and beyond. As a leader, that means making sure that if we have the opportunity to hire, we do so with diversity in mind. That we have conversations about the publications and pieces we are producing and make every effort to represent different areas of campus. It means we continue to look hard at the words, images, and stories we use to help current and future students see themselves.”

Estupinian

“Switching to a university, what changes (if any) do you hope to see within the Marketing department and the representation on campus?”

Edlund

“I sincerely hope that as we begin our next chapter, the conversations we have as a campus around diversity, equity, and inclusion deepen. My department will be doing what we can to continue such conversations within our own department.”

Message from Erin:

“One thing not asked here was in regard to how we gain perspective when we are in the process of developing a marketing project. To that end, I would say one of the most important factors is our internal team. I am proud to say that the University Engagement team (that is all the areas I oversee) is one of the most diverse teams on campus. There’s incredible value in that because each member of my team brings a unique insight into the work we are doing, and their different perspectives regularly push our team to do better. We also hire a team of student interns every year, and we often run work we are doing by those students to get their feedback. Their perspectives and opinions often help us see things we might not have seen from our own individual places in the world. For marketing, gathering insight from many people before we finish a project is a critical way to make sure we aren’t missing an important perspective or misrepresenting something. We aren’t perfect, but as a leader at Morningside, I think surrounding myself with perspectives different than my own is one of the most important things I can do to advance DEI work.”