Students have mixed reactions about the new digital billboards popping up around Colorado State University’s Fort Collins campus.
“I haven't talked to every student on campus, but every reaction I've gotten has not been positive,” said Claire VanDeventer, who has written about this topic for The Rocky Mountain Collegian. “I don't think that these billboards have gone up and anyone had started applauding or anything.”
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VanDeventer’s seen five billboards put up so far on the Lory Student Center Plaza, the CSU Transit Center and near Moby Arena. She said more will be coming to campus this month and next year.
CSU got the billboards at no cost from local ad company Street Media Group. She wasn’t able to obtain a specific reason for why they were given for free. But VanDeventer said the sales manager believes the billboards will increase traction to local businesses, and both the company and the university will get revenue.
“I'm assuming that being an advertising group in Fort Collins, it must be difficult that there's a no billboard policy,” VanDeventer said. “So I think this was an opportunity for them to put those up without conflicting the city policy.”
CSU gave a statement to The Collegian about the billboards, saying they “strengthen campus communication” and serve as an additional method to share about emergencies.
But VanDeventer said the university hasn’t been very transparent about the billboards’ full purpose. She interviewed students around campus, and some were confused why they’d be used for emergencies when they already have a text message alert system in place. Others were concerned their tuition was being used to fund the billboards.
“Even though it was emphasized to me that these came at no cost to the school, a lot of students immediately looked at them, they're like, ‘Oh, am I paying for those?’” she said.
The Collegian also received a letter to the editor citing concerns about light pollution and energy usage. The billboards use LED lights that point light down, but they are always on. That’s concerning, VanDeventer said, when CSU has been ranked highly for sustainability efforts.
“You are looking at these, and you’re understanding that these don’t align,” she said. “It's made people concerned for the direction that the university is going in terms of sustainability, because it is bringing in profit for the university, which is a good thing, but at what cost is it bringing that in when it might be contradicting our mission and sustainability?”
Some students were even surprised to see them in Fort Collins, as the city has an ordinance against them to protect its character. CSU is on state land, so it doesn’t have to obey that rule. Fort Collins officials did advise the university against the signs, citing long standing city standards. But they gave a statement to The Collegian saying that “for other reasons they (CSU) have decided to proceed with the installations.”
“CSU and Fort Collins work very closely, and a lot of the time their interests are aligned, but this is one example where their interests aren't aligned,” VanDeventer said. “(But) their hands are tied. They really can't do anything other than express to them that this is not something that they support.”
VanDeventer said she’s heard talk of students possibly putting together a petition to CSU President Amy Parsons, but no action has been taken yet.
