Week 5 is chock full of midterms for many Drexel students, and those of us who have them need all the study time we can get at this point in the term. So it was quite ironic for many of us when a procrastination-inducing Facebook page titled “Drexel University Memes” went viral the evening of Feb. 7.
Like many other Internet phenomena, this Drexel-centric group seemed to spring up out of nowhere. Perhaps it was simple procrastination that led the creators of the site to post dozens of surprisingly funny and universal observations about life at Drexel. Since then the page has been one of the more talked-about trends on campus, and posts from the page have cluttered the Facebook feeds of everyone who has “liked” the page.
While it does contain a great deal of good humor, the page is solidly rooted in reality. A few memes observe life at our sometimes odd school, such as one that comments on the reaction of some students to the Homecoming artist selection: “OMG SNOOP IS COMING TO DREXEL!! <3 — NEVER LISTENED TO SNOOP.” Others are clearly grounded at Drexel, with one scene from the movie “Inception” resubtitled to have one character asking another, “How’s your midterms going?” The other character responds, “What midterms? I’m on co-op.”
But not all of them are simple jokes. Many of them voice legitimate concerns of Drexel students. One message overlaid on the likeness of Drew Carey from the television show “Whose Line is it Anyway?” riffs on a familiar catchphrase from that show but adds a Drexel twist with “Welcome to Co-op 101 — Where the lectures are made up and the grades don’t matter.”
One of the most popular image macros, with over 400 likes in just two days, features the image of the A.J. Drexel statue and the caption “Congratulations on your acceptance — to a construction zone.”
These images, some silly and many funny because they’re true, offer a rare look into the minds of Drexel students. These aren’t the grievances that can be gleaned from the end-of-term surveys or the “answer 10 minutes of questions and be entered to win an iPod Nano” email surveys that the University often uses to judge the mood of the student population. These are candid responses about actual issues and improvements that we students talk about among each other in the residence halls, in classrooms, on the street and during our downtime.
To the administration: Do not miss this opportunity to glance into this window on student life, an organic product of social media.
To the students who keep updating and posting to the page: Keep it up! These things are funny and true, and it makes us happy that there are so many hilarious people here on this campus. Thanks for keeping us entertained during this stressful week of midterms.