High School Crashers

Every fall, the Oregon University System admissions staffs gather for a half day of training before hitting the road to recruit students. We do something that is quite unusual in Oregon, in that the seven universities actually travel together from high school to high school around much of the state, presenting the value of public higher education and "selling" our individual campuses.

Last year, our OIT staff closed the program with a skit based on the reality shows Tommy Lee Goes to College and The Simple Life with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. I played Tommy Lee while Marleigh Luster was Nicole and we introduced Trevor Oswald in his debut starring role as Paris Hilton, mini skirt and all.

Yesterday, we all met on the campus of Southern Oregon University for the training and the OIT staff closed things out with a new skit based on the movie, The Wedding Crashers.


Don't worry, I didn't sing. John Duarte and I played "tour crashers" joining the OUS group to look for "little valedictorians and salutatorians all around the state" who are just waiting to fall in love with a college.


Angela, as Moonbeam from the University of Oregon, is driving the OUS van to our school visit while Marleigh, as MaryBeth from Western Oregon, asks why the van smells like stale cigarettes and cheap gin. We learned that the OUS van is never to be referred to as "The Party Van."


Periodically, Brandy would call time out to point out the error of our ways. Along the way, we learned that PSU has drive-by shootings after every class, OSU has the state's best student-to-tavern ratio, the University of Oregon's slogan is "Of is Our Middle Name," and that appropriate van discussion does not include asking your team leader if she is pregnant, even if she is.