A new OCU-themed Instagram account focuses on gratitude and positivity.
@thankyouocu made its first Instagram post on March 14 and is accepting submissions for new posts thanking OCU staff and faculty for their work and support during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The account’s bio reads, “OCU is not perfect but I am proud of the way it has handled COVID-19! Let’s show our school, staff, and faculty some love!”
Derek Bryant, biochemistry sophomore, runs the page.
“It’s been really cool watching it grow,” Bryant said. “I only started the page a few days ago, and it already has over 100 followers. There haven’t been any negative comments or anything.”
At presstime, the account has 12 posts and 121 followers.
Bryant said he created the account after seeing @occupyocu, an Instagram page questioning the university’s decisions and actions taken during the coronavirus outbreak.
“I had a problem with how the account was approaching the entire situation,” Bryant said. “I thought there were better ways to approach it, so I decided to make this page to praise OCU for the good things they’re doing in this situation.”
Bryant said he wanted to shift focus from anger to positivity.
“@occupyocu focuses a lot on the negatives,” Bryant said. “It asked a lot of questions that couldn’t possibly have been answered at the point in time they were posted. It didn’t seem like the kind of perspective the OCU community could get behind.”
Bryant said he understood everyone was going through a tough time, and hoped @thankyouocu would help.
“In my time at OCU, I’ve seen a lot more love and kindness in our approach to difficult situations,” Bryant said. “I wanted to try and rally a little support for that side of the responses to the situation.”
Lauren Leppke, theatre and performance sophomore, said making the account was a really good idea.
“We have a lot of issues with OCU sometimes, and some people handle it in a pretty unhealthy way,” Leppke said. “I think that’s unfair to the faculty and administration.”
While some issues need to be pointed out and brought to the administration, Leppke said it is nice to have a positive space during this time of uncertainty.
“I really like that there’s gratitude toward the faculty and optimism rather than negativity,” Leppke said.
The fact that more OCU-themed Instagram pages are popping up is interesting, Leppke said.
“For some of us, it’s more accessible than emails, forums or Facebook pages,” Leppke said. “Some people are more likely to stumble across pages like this on Instagram or Twitter than anywhere else.”
Leppke said she appreciates the way the page is being handled.
“They could have used it to continue pointing out issues, but instead they’re using it to spread positivity,” Leppke said.
Bryant said anyone is free to submit thoughts and comments through direct messages.
“I review everything before I post,” Bryant said. “A lot of times I paraphrase a bit because if they mention specific people or faculty members, I don’t want to post anything that could get anyone in trouble.”
Bryant said he will not personally judge anyone’s submissions.
“If you want to submit something, go for it,” Bryant said. “There won’t be any judgement on this end. If it’s inappropriate, I just won’t respond to it. However, if it’s appropriate and good to go, I’ll do my best to get it out there as soon as possible.”
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