A student recruitment ad, “Find Your Ragin’ Spirit,” earned a prestigious international award and praise from a three-judge panel.
It features chalk drawings representing UL Lafayette and student life, along with encouraging phrases, such as “dream big” and “branch out.”
The ad received a gold award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. CASE is the world’s largest nonprofit educational association, with nearly 75,000 advancement professionals from 4,000 institutions in over 80 countries.
“ ‘Ragin’ Spirit’ is a catchphrase that might be expected to evoke images of football heroics. But instead, what is captured here is the ragin’ of imagination and possibility. Every single doodle on that chalkboard outlines some special aspect of the university’s mission, offerings, and student outcomes,” the CASE judges reported
The ad first appeared in “Louisiana Next,” a guide to colleges and universities distributed to all juniors and seniors in the state.
The judges noted that the drawings and motivational quotes “would allow a wide variety of students with different interests to find something that personally resonates with their dreams and goals.”
In April, the entire “Find Your Ragin’ Spirit” recruitment campaign won a gold award from CASE District IV, which includes institutions from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The ad that won international recognition was part of that campaign.
The Office of Communications and Marketing worked with the Admissions office on the recruitment campaign. Courtney Fuller, ’98, graphic design specialist for the University, created the recruitment ad.
A stop-motion video compresses Fuller chalking the background for the ad from about 11 hours to a minute and half.