To some, it may appear as if Victor E. and Me is trying to romantically match up NIU students.

In fact, the website is part of a marketing campaign that started last year, which shows prospective, new and current NIU students how to get involved with campus organizations.

The campaign plays on the concept of dating websites, but instead of finding partners, Victor E. matches students to community service and employment options, social opportunities and more.

Becky Harlow, assistant director of the Student Involvement and Leadership Development Department, and Brandi Hephner LaBanc, associate vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, were both part of the Student Life Marketing Task Force that developed the campaign.

“When we talk about what are you looking for in a campus, it’s almost like what are you looking for in a significant other,” Harlow said. “And so we thought we could do something where Victor E. kind of encapsulates that campus and NIU experience.”

Harlow said the website includes “little silly romantic videos” to show what students found with Victor E. Students can enter the different interests they have and the website will generate a list of ways to get involved on campus.

Hephner LaBanc said the campaign has themes that relate to NIU President John Peters’ Vision 2020 initiative to have 30,000 students enrolled by 2020. She said the campaign supports the goals in the initiative by trying to help students form stronger connections with NIU.

“We know that when students get involved outside of their classes, they are more invested in the institution,” Hephner LaBanc said. “They will hopefully stay here longer and complete their degree…I think Victor E. and Me supports where we are headed with the Vision 2020 initiative.”

Alumna wins Victor E. and Me video scholarship

NIU alumna Karli Johnson grew up in Sherrard, Ill. – a small farm town of 600 people.

Going to college was not something most people living there thought about or did, she said. But after working on an asparagus farm for four years, Johnson learned the importance of hard work and knew she wanted to go to college.

When she got to NIU, Johnson became heavily involved in student organizations, took video production courses and even performed as the Victor E. mascot.

Last semester, Johnson saw a status on NIU’s Facebook page about a Victor E. and Me Video Scholarship Contest and decided to apply. Johnson was recently notified that she won and received $1,000 in tuition reimbursement.

“The point of my video was to show how, really, any student can get involved,” Johnson said. “That’s what I tell everyone, because employers don’t really care about your GPA; they want to see your involvement and your hard work.”