A mysterious new hashtag has taken over Edleman College of Communication & Creative Arts (ECCCA). The “#TaggingTweedie” challenge tasked students with posting pictures with the dean of the college, Sanford Tweedie. 

This challenge was all started by a post on Instagram on Tuesday, Sept. 6 that quickly took the student body by storm due to its enticing $250 Visa gift card reward.

“So we have a lot of great interns working in the dean’s office and I said, ‘You know, no one knows what a dean does, right?’ So I go to a lot of events, and I said, ‘We should do something on social media,’” Tweedie said about coming up with the idea for #TaggingTweedie

Tweedie isn’t just using #TaggingTweedie as a form of self-promo, he’s also hoping the ECCCA gets more recognition as well, as he believes a lot of students don’t even know they’re a part of it.

“I’m going to class and I’ll say, ‘Are you going to the College of Communication’ And some people kind of shrug. And I say, ‘Well, what’s your major?’ And they’ll say, ‘Advertising,’ yeah, that’s part of the college,” Tweedie said.

The only criteria to enter was that you must be a Rowan student who is studying at the Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts.

The challenge consisted of three parts:

1. You must find the dean and take a picture with him.
2. You must share the image on social media using the hashtag #TaggingTweedie.
3. You must follow the Edleman College of Communication & Creative Arts Instagram page and like this post.

The challenge ended on Friday, Sept. 16, and the winner was announced to be Ileana Koifman, a junior with a major in public relations, on Tuesday, Sept. 20

“I’ve had several students who run up to me and say, ‘I need my photo with you because I want $250!’ and then others who will not do it under any conditions. One, I remember said, they’re ‘camera shy.’ Some just say, ‘I’m good.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re a student, you know, it’s $250. What do you mean?’” Tweedie said.

Although some choose not to participate in the challenge, Tweedie mentions that he has taken pictures with over 70 students.

“It’s great to get out this semester and see the students. We have over 300 faculty that are in the college. So I’ve gotten to meet some faculty I’ve never met before. I went into some of the classes with our brand new faculty who I helped hire this year. So, I got to see them again. It’s been a great high energy fun time,” Tweedie said.

If you’re part of the ECCCA and see Tweedie walking over to your class, go and take a picture with him. Who knows, you might win $250! Good luck to all who participate!

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