There are thousands of Goucher students, faculty, alumnae/i, and staff. This makes for a whole lot of different experiences and personalities scattered around campus … and the globe.
Now all members of the college’s extended community can connect and see one another’s unique points of view about Goucher with the social media account “This is my Goucher” on Facebook and Instagram. Each week a new person associated with Goucher takes over the account to showcase photos or short videos that represent his or her relationship with the college.
Founder Eli Kaufman ’15 says the account’s draw is due to people’s enjoyment in finding a new way to connect with Goucher and the people who make it the special place it is. “Everyone realizes what we all have in common, and it is a fun, creative, and playful way to do that,” he said.
Eli, a communications major from Toledo, Ohio, studied abroad this past spring. While in Copenhagen, Denmark, he saw something similar at another institution and decided to take it a step further at Goucher by adding alumnae/i, faculty, and staff participants to the account he started this fall. “The other school only uses current students,” he said. “I thought that Goucher is so much more than the current students.”
So far account holders have shown off photos from internship sites, beautiful campus portraits, office still lifes, shots of the stacks of books they’re reading, glimpses into their daily lives abroad, among other things.
Those interested in capturing images of “their Goucher” are encouraged to fill out the form here. Applicants share their interests, extracurricular activities, and jobs, and Eli decides who holds the account every week. “I try to vary the types of people,” he said. “I like a good balance of majors, years, alums, students who are abroad, faculty, and staff.”
The rules are simple: Monday has to be a selfie, but other than that, participants show one picture a day of what constitutes “their Goucher,” something that’s open to interpretation.
“I also encourage people to use #thisismygoucher on their own pictures so it can create a large source of photos when people search the hashtag,” Eli said.
Check out “This is my Goucher” on Facebook here and on Instagram at thisismygoucher.