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UW officials: Reality show lacking realism
University distances itself from ‘College Life’ portrayal of city
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With the MTV reality show “College Life” set to premiere tonight, University of Wisconsin officials are concerned about the balance of aspects of campus life the show will depict.
“My real hope is MTV depicts the experience for Wisconsin students in a holistic, well-rounded way,” Dean of Students Lori Berquam said. “My fear is the reality that they show is just about alcohol. I think the experience at Madison is more than just alcohol, and that emphasis devalues the work that our students put in here.”
“College Life” — a reality show premiering tonight at 9:30 on MTV that will depict the lives of eight UW freshmen and sophomores as filmed by the students — was originally proposed by a UW alumnus. MTV agents spent the fall scouting campus for students to appear on the show.
According to Berquam, the alumnus hoped the show would be a way to capitalize on positive things about the university and showcase bright, engaged students.
“It’s sort of transitioned into something that was a little bit more,” she said.
According to UW spokesperson John Lucas, the university originally started out with the idea of partnering with the show but decided in the fall to pull back after realizing the show did not align with the original intentions behind it.
“It was steering more and more toward stereotypical shows,” Lucas said. “They had a much greater eye toward the drinking and relationship side of campus life than the balanced side.”
Berquam said the decision was made after the first trailer for the show was released, and the university became concerned about putting its name on a show they believed did not accurately depict the life of a student.
“That’s where we decided to step back … because we were concerned about how this could impact UW-Madison for our alums, our current students, our future students, our students’ parents and potential donors to our university,” Berquam said.
However, the MTV site describes the show as something beyond reality TV, as the show is an “intimate portrayal of the highs and lows of the experience, a no-holds barred, honest portrayal of life on campus.”
The site also notes the show is not endorsed by UW.
UW freshman Steph Menefee said she received several callbacks to be on the show and participated in a week of filming but in the end decided the show was not for her.
While Menefee said she was encouraged by MTV to film all aspects of her life, including studying, grade results and hanging out with friends, she said there were some events she just did not feel comfortable sharing.
“My whole thing was things that I should have been filming that would have made good TV or what people would want to see, I wasn’t really comfortable filming, especially if it would jeopardize or embarrass any of my friends,” Menefee said.
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What a shame. It will probably just be another boring show about hedonistic college debauchery rather than the more meaningful aspects of college life at UW-Madison.
-David Lapidus
This will hurt UW. Badly.
it might hurt UW, but it really isn’t too far from the truth. But only the truth from the students that decide to go down that path. There are many paths at UW to choose. Some choose the traditional ones, other choose to go down the one of partying and craziness; which is what MTV is after.
UW and its alumni should know better than to trust MTV with the production of the show. What did they think was going to happen?
Ultimately, I’m not worried about UW-Madison’s credibility — it’s the reputations of the individual students that are at risk. Anything dubious caught on tape will follow them around long after they leave campus. If I’m a prospective employer, I would definitely think twice about hiring them.
If it’s on MTV, it’s going to suck.
“This will hurt UW. Badly.” <— Seconded.
if they want to see what college life is really like, they should put a camera in helen c and film everyone studying.
I hope that the public understands that this show, like all MTV shows, is at least halfway scripted. The students were given assignments, otherwise it would not be a successful TV show (no one has THAT exciting of a life). My hope is that the students have represented UW Madison fairly, even while trying to meet the expectations of their producer.
While alcohol, parties, relationship drama, etc. may take precedence on the weekends, my experience here has taught me all the rewards of living a life more complete than that. I wish reality television was real.
Well now…. A reality show that distorts reality???? How can that be? We’ve only been watching them for what, 10 years now. I think even grade schoolers know that what’s shown is sauced up to draw eyeballs, and the truth matters little. Don’t tell me no one at UW Madison didn’t understand that…
I think they should show more balance of school vs. relationships and partying in the next episodes. Obviously the students are spending most of the week in class, but that’s boring to watch. But think of all the drama at Helen C that could be caught on tape!!! I think people are kidding themselves if they didn’t know 20 to 30 people who were JUST like all those kids on the show when they were freshmen. The experiences are common to nearly everyone - those who graduate top in their class to the bottom… there just is no proof of you on videotape :)
I don’t think this is such a terrible thing for UW. I personally see the reason for showing all the drinking and relationship problems that happen. Thats just as important a part of college as all the learning and classes. You come to college not only to learn a a career but to learn about yourself. Everyone knows that UW is a party school, and for many that is a selling point. I don’t think UW should hide any affiliation with the show because people know what college life is like either way. But showing all the rough times to high-schoolers, which this show is targeting, will help them have a better idea of what to expect. I know it would have helped me to know what kind of highs AND lows to expect.
I am surprised that a UW alumni was the one who came up with the idea of the show. Understandably, he or she would want to do it in an environment where she is most familiar, which would be clearly be here, but, as a student here, I would never portray Madison the way it was on the show last night. It is disappointing that the only way MTV can get people to watch the show is by showing such a small percentage of what campus life is really like here. Obviously, many people are going to drink irresponsibly throughout their college experience or break up with their boyfriends — but I feel like life here is so much more than recording my friends doing a kegstand in the basement of some random house on Mifflin or Breese. The real struggles I and most of my friends have experienced adjusting to college life hardly included those shown on College Life. We all worked hard for years to get into UW, and it’s frustrating that producers of a show can change our school’s reputation in a matter of 30 minutes. Thankfully, it got terrible reviews from most of the people who have watched it, so not many people will be tuning in later.
I am really surprised the UW alumni decided it was a good idea to give the show to MTV. What started off as a decent idea turned into one of MTV’s ridiculous shows, depicting only the negative aspects of Madison. Obviously, drinking and partying occur on campus - but there is so much more to Madison than just that. We are apart of one of the top universities in the country, and this is how our students are portrayed? I agree with a previous comment stating that there are more struggles in adjusting to college life than beer pong and non-stop partying. It makes me feel a little more better that so many students were upset with the portrayal of “college life” in this show, proving that this show is not what the University of Wisconsin- Madison is all about.
I am legitimately embarrassed that this show was filmed at the University of Wisconsin. I’ve read multiple stories about why the students involved even wanted to be on the show - one is paying their way through college, one has a new apartment that MTV is paying for, etc, etc; the rumors go on. What it comes down to for me is that the show is so limited in its portrayal of “freshman year.” Maybe that’s not what the goal of the show is, and clearly MTV is to blame for that. It’s just unfortunate that people who don’t know very much about Wisconsin will watch the show and think that it is representative of what life is really like here.
You people need to get over yourselves. Stop acting like your slice of UW is any more important than other people’s. No show is going to show “all of the merits” of a University, as no one would watch that and certainly no major network would pick it up. This show is plain and simple - to show the personal lives of students in college. It has nothing to do with UW outside of the fact that the drama is happening in Madison and UW academics are tough on these kids.