The fifth annual Ten with Ken Holiday Special continues our review of highlights from more than 500 college and university greeting videos released around the world last December. In part 3, “Festive & Fuzzy,” we turn to the cuddlier side of the season, with a look at campus mascots, puppy dogs, and classic movies.
Mascots appear often in holiday videos, as we saw in parts 1 and 2, including the University of Virginia’s Cavalier, Upper Iowa University’s Pete the Peacock, Wheaton College’s Roary the Lion, James Madison University’s Duke Dog, and Cape Breton University’s Caper. Mascots played Santa as well, such as JW the Mustang in Western University’s video. At Atlanta’s Emory University, it was not the official mascot, Swoop the Eagle, but the “spirit” of campus, Dooley the Biology Lab Skeleton, who played Santa. The best-in-class “Mascot as Santa” video, though, came from the University of Alabama: Big Al, the elephant, was rushing around campus dispensing gifts, when he needs to figure out how to cheer up a disappointed little girl.
Although cat videos (like my current fave, Owl Kitty) dominate the internet, when it comes to higher ed holiday videos, it’s all canines all the way! They make cameo appearances at tree-lighting ceremonies, music recitals, and even serve as a prop for presidents. An adorable golden retriever puppy warmed up the bonfire at Algoma University. Two malteses cheered up a fireside chat from Quinnipiac University president Judy Olian. At Duke University, president Vincent Price recited a poem to his golden doodle and labradoodle.
Dogs are also increasingly the stars of holiday videos. Teddy and Travis toured the College of Veterinary Medicine at Ohio State University. At North Carolina’s Meredith College, president Jo Allen’s dog Bachelor has starred in holiday greetings for years – delivering ornaments and candy canes, making a fitness resolution and hitting the treadmill. Last year, he took us on an aerial tour of campus, flying his WWI prop plane. Bachelor has earned a special lifetime achievement award for his contributions so far.
Landmark College president Peter Eden talked to the animals – by Facetime! And the campus therapy dogs texted each other. And speaking of therapy dogs, the theme of well-being has been increasing in holiday videos. The SAIT Student Association released several videos last year emphasizing support services. The Thompson Rivers University student life office produced a tongue-in-cheek video about winter wellness. And of course, plenty of videos focus on homesickness and loneliness.
Lonely mascots often find a happy ending. At the University of California Merced, Rufus the Bobcat felt neglected by busy students until he launched a campus feel-good initiative. At the University of Guelph, Gryph snuggled up to watch holiday videos with president Franco Vaccarino. At Scotland’s University of Stirling, the mascot Squirrel was deeply depressed until he was brought into a warm circle of friends to celebrate the holidays. “Be the Difference” was the best-in-class video of this type last year.
Often, lonely mascots parody classic Christmas movies like “Home Alone,” eating tons of ice cream and getting into trouble. Last year it was Penn State’s Nittany Lion, and the University of Alberta’s GUBA the golden bear. But we also saw the president of Regis University, Father John Fitzgibbons, recreating holiday classics like “Home Alone,” “Elf,” “Christmas Vacation” and even “Love Actually.” With even higher production standards, the John Chambers School of Business & Economics at West Virginia U produced a wonderful best-in-class collection of movie parodies. It was matched only by another outstanding parody of “Christmas Vacation” from the University of Tennessee – Martin, in which Chancellor Keith Carver performs superbly. Of course, the other popular holiday movie parody was “The Grinch,” from UK’s Newcastle & Stafford Colleges Group to Bellarmine University.
This episode contains clips from more than 500 higher ed holiday videos that Ken collected last year. You can find our full collection of 2018 videos on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXZ7unDyH9cDK-lwTwGul7B
And we’ve started collecting 2019 higher ed holiday videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXaztYot1vitgTZ5AHfAfJk
If you want to add one, please use this special link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXaztYot1vitgTZ5AHfAfJk&jct=Tm_lbyblL2ee4fhdD9En0aFVEu-NVg
After 3 parts and 40 minutes, we may have done what we can for this month. Ten with Ken will be back in January with more serious topics, from virtual reality in pedagogy, to student mental health and therapy dogs. To be sure you don’t miss a thing, be sure to subscribe at http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/
The “Ten with Ken” Holiday Special continues with part 2: Season’s Eatings!
Every year, baked goods and particularly gingerbread are prominent in higher ed holiday greeting videos. Often, we see students baking together, such as in a best-in-class vid from Wellesley College last year. More often than not, the bakers are joined by the school mascot, like Azul the Eagle at Florida Gulf Coast University. At Laurentian University, interim president Pierre Zundel made the rounds, spreading holiday cheer and deliciously empty calories around the campus library. At Cape Breton University, the cookies were a family recipe of mascot “the Caper”. At James Madison University, in Harrisburg Virginia, Duke the Dog likes to bake solo – but as a result, the cookies were shaped like dog treats!
Decorating gingerbread cookies is an event in and of itself. At William Paterson University, in New Jersey, president Helldobler hosted a cookie decorating party at his home. Stanford University included a life-sized gingerbread house in their holiday video – with decorations that looked good enough to eat! At Utah’s Dixie State University, president Biff Williams and his family get into a food fight while baking holiday cookies.
Gingerbread often sparks some friendly competition. At Boston University, students from Engineering and Fine Arts were pitted against each other to build the perfect gingerbread house, in an amusing best-in-class video. At the University of the Fraser Valley, culinary arts, indigenous visual art, and engineering push technology even further, creating an award-winning gingerbread house using a laser cutter. The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee shared some amusing examples of gingerbread construction fails in another best-in-class video. Several holiday videos included campfire singalongs, like those from Algoma University or Trent University, toasting marshmallows or even making s’mores – like at Wheaton College in Massachusetts.
Quite a few institutions released recipe-style baking videos, including “high altitude baking tips” from Colorado State University, and a 350-year-old meat pie recipe from Loughborough University. More metaphorically, the University of Waterloo Faculty of the Environment shared their own secrets for success.
Gathering to share a holiday meal is a powerful ritual, explored in videos from Colorado College, Tarleton State University, the University of Toronto Mississauga, and the University of Windsor. But perhaps the most moving holiday video depicting a campus meal came from the University of Aberdeen. It depicted a student, away from loved ones, baking tarts to contribute to a holiday feast on campus with her friends. The warmth of the group shines through the cold winter night, as they stroll through the Aberdeen campus, and join the tree-lighting ceremony. Definitely a best in class, this was one of the overall besthigher ed holiday videos last year.
This episode contains clips from more than 500 higher ed holiday videos that Ken collected last year. You can find our full collection of 2018 videos on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXZ7unDyH9cDK-lwTwGul7B
And we’ve started collecting 2019 higher ed holiday videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXaztYot1vitgTZ5AHfAfJk
If you want to add one, please use this special link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXaztYot1vitgTZ5AHfAfJk&jct=Tm_lbyblL2ee4fhdD9En0aFVEu-NVg
Ten with Ken will be back in a few more days with part 3 of our Holiday Special, “When the Fur Flies” - featuring parodies of classic films and Christmas carols, multiple mascots, and plenty of wagging puppy dog tails. To be sure you don’t miss it, be sure to subscribe at http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/
Meanwhile, if you missed part 1, “Mid-Winter Magic,” you can catch it at https://youtu.be/NGWq5-4xWl0
This year’s “Ten with Ken” Holiday Special starts with part 1: Midwinter Magic!
In last year’s higher ed holiday videos, campus marketers were clearly anxious about doing a good job, such as at the Bryan School of Business & Economics at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Upper Iowa University, Chambers College of Business & Economics at West Virginia University, and Newcastle & Stafford College Group. Some campus leaders invite lots of input, such as at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California. But president Ryan of the University of Virginia took matters into his own hands, in the best-in-class “presidential message” video.
As always, hundreds of videos were just animated greeting cards, but some stood out from UBC Okanagan, Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles, and the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University. The best-in-class “miniature campus” video came from New York’s Barnard College. We saw tree-trimming or tree-lighting ceremonies at Sweet Briar College, Mount Saint Vincent University, King’s University College, and DePaul University. Meadow Brook Hall at Oakland University was decked with all the trimmings, while Elon University released an hour-long “yule log” video (without a fireplace).
Many campuses are beautiful in winter, and snow sports featured in videos from Bishop’s University, McGill University, Western Carolina University, and Trent University. At the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management staged ice sculpting. But in the southern hemisphere, the holidays fall at the height of summer – so Santa visits the University of Western Australia wearing shorts and sandals!
One new trend in last year’s videos was giant snowglobes on campuses, including Grand Valley State University in Michigan the University of Leicester in England, and the University of La Verne.
Although it started two years back, the use of robots in holiday videos really accelerated last year. Some good examples came from the University of South Florida, the UCLA Robotics & Mechanisms Lab, Germany’s Forschungszentrum Informatic research centre, and perhaps even the Western University Archives.
Eschewing tradition, the Chancellor of Purdue University Indianapolis was sent on a scavenger hunt, while at Oklahoma State University, president Burns Hargis and his wife took on whitewater rafting. Chancellor Susan Koch of the University of Illinois Springfield became a cartoon and went snowboarding with the provost, while president Feridun Hamdullahpur of the University of Waterloo was turned into claymation in the best-in-class “animated president” video.
Animated presidents were just a new twist on the longstanding tradition of amusing videos from animation students, and last year we saw good examples from Sheridan College, Centennial College, and Emily Carr University of Art & Design. The best-in-class “animated greeting” video came from Scotland’s University of Stirling.
This episode contains clips from about 60 of the 500+ higher ed holiday videos that Ken collected last year. You can find our full collection of 2018 videos on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXZ7unDyH9cDK-lwTwGul7B
And we’ve started collecting 2019 higher ed holiday videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXaztYot1vitgTZ5AHfAfJk
If you want to add one, please use this special link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXaztYot1vitgTZ5AHfAfJk&jct=Tm_lbyblL2ee4fhdD9En0aFVEu-NVg
Ten with Ken will be back in a couple of days with part 2 of our Holiday Special, “Season’s Eatings” - featuring gingerbread, baking, smores, campus feasts and more. To be sure you don’t miss it, be sure to subscribe at http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/
Meanwhile, you can watch last year’s Holiday Countdown at https://youtu.be/g1KhnHCqMqw