UW Cru set up a camera and music during lunch hour, and invited people passing by to dance.
Watch the video:
Jaunty notes from Taylor Swift’s hit “Shake it Off” filled the University of Washington walkway during the lunch hour.
A student in a blue polka dot dress spun a pirouette in her street shoes for the camera that UW Cru students had set up. She was the latest in a line of passersby they’d invited to dance for a couple of minutes to the song. Later, they edited it into one music video, starring UW.
Erin, Cru staff at UW, had formed the idea with Allie, a student leader in their movement who is overseeing their social media.
“We had a conversation,” Erin said. “Knowing the culture of UW is not always friendly towards Christianity, how do we open that environment?”
They wanted to draw students to their social media through fun promotions that would interest every student and build name recognition within the campus community.
“We wanted Cru at UW’s online presence to communicate that we are a community that brings value to the campus,” Erin said.
When the video went live, several UW community Facebook pages shared the video, and it began to spread through the social media feeds on campus. They invested a few dollars to promote the video, and soon, it reached 15,000 views.
But hits weren’t what Erin and Allie were looking for. The final goal was to make connections offline and face to face. They message students who “Like” the page and invite them to coffee. They follow up on comments.
“People of this generation are thirsty for validation,” Erin said. “It’s positive for them to be noticed by someone else. Students in Seattle want connections – they want friends, but they’re nervous to take the first step.”
One student Allie connected with through the website has now joined a small group after going with them to a Mariners game.
In the video, many of the students dancing are with UW Cru.
“That has really helped build community,” Allie said. “A lot of the dancers are in Cru, and now they’ll see people on the side of the street who’ll say ‘oh hey, you’re from that video.'”
Making the video also offered a natural introduction to students they’d never connected with before.
“We met a diverse array of unique characters,” Erin said. “One UW staff followed up with a guy and got a chance to share the gospel with him and his friend.”
