Pencils, planners and … push-up bras?
School supplies and Victoria's Secret may seem an unlikely combination. But the popular lingerie and clothing retailer is looking to appeal to college students' school spirit with its newly unveiled PINK Collegiate Collection.
The collection features colorful sweatpants, t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, tote bags, sleepwear and underwear emblazoned with the name of a participating school. Currently, 31 are involved.
The schools in the collection are primarily large state universities, including the University of Texas and the University of Michigan, although the collection does include a few smaller private schools like Boston College.
Tufts University has not been approached to join the ranks of Victoria's Secret's collegiate clients — a fact that may be attributed to the university's intense screening process for prospective businesses.
According to Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman, Tufts conducts business transactions with many different vendors, ranging from small companies to far-away countries. But before any contract is signed, Tufts will examine the reputation and standards of the potential partner.
"When we are looking at a new company, there are ethical business policies that come into play," Reitman said. "For example, does this company have sweatshops? Does it have a history of respecting human rights and fair trade? It's as if the company is applying for a job and we're checking its references."
After a company has cleared the ethical hurdle, the remaining question is slightly stickier.
"Simply put, we ask ourselves, ‘Is this a good idea?'" Reitman said.
Reitman believes that signing a contract with Victoria's Secret would not be an intelligent move for the university.
"I think many of the women here would be offended, and our whole division of Student Affairs would be in protest. I can tell you that Victoria's Secret would not get a warm welcome from me," Reitman said.
"Tufts seeks to be a model of social justice," he added. "Why would we make a deal with a company known to make money by treating women as sexual objects?"
Citing similar misgivings about Victoria's Secret, Chancellor Holden Thorp of the University of North Carolina announced on Sept. 1 that he had decided not to renew the school's brand contract.
"I saw the catalog [Victoria's Secret] produced and didn't believe the images were consistent with the values of the university in terms of the way they portray women," Thorp said in a statement reported recently by US News and World Report.
Thorp's colleagues have supported his choice to distance UNC from Victoria's Secret.
"We didn't want the university's brand associated with the Victoria's Secret brand," said Nancy Davis, associate vice chancellor for UNC university relations, in an e-mail to the Daily. "We didn't want to promote Victoria's Secret and its marketing approach."
But some dispute the claim that Victoria's Secret is inherently demeaning to women.
"Maybe Victoria's Secret doesn't mesh with the feminist version of empowerment," said Tufts freshman Cara Guappone, who is a former Victoria's Secret employee "But I really don't think that helping women who want pretty underwear is objectifying them."
Guappone denies that the PINK collection, which produces the college gear, is inappropriate. Lingerie is not the focus of the collection, she said.
"The colleges get to have cute little T-shirts and brightly colored sweatpants with the school logos," she said. "What's wrong with that?"
Students attending schools under contract with Victoria's Secret emphasized the brand's ubiquity and convenience.
"Victoria's Secret PINK is comfortable, and it's popular here. I see lots of students walking around in PINK," Boston College freshman Tess Nicholson said.
Boston College remains the only school in the New England area currently under contract with Victoria's Secret. "I basically live in my BC PINK sweatpants," Nicholson said.
Regardless of whether or not they would sport the line, some Tufts students said that Victoria's Secret is simply engaging in smart business practices by catering to the college crowd.
"I don't see the big deal," freshman Scott Barchard said. "Victoria's Secret is promoting its brand and trying to make a profit. That's what businesses do."
But overwhelmingly, women at Tufts said they do not support or wear Victoria's Secret and would not spend their money on Tufts PINK merchandise.
"I wouldn't wear it," sophomore Meaghan Woodard said.
The sexualized portrayal of women was a factor in some students' distaste of Victoria's Secret.
"I think Victoria's Secret is a little weird," freshman Sasha Reed said. "I don't shop there ... and I don't watch the Victoria's Secret Angels runway shows because I think those displays are ridiculous and a little bit offensive."
Victoria's Secret representatives did not return repeated requests for comment.
Students can nominate Tufts University for consideration by Victoria's Secret PINK Collegiate Collection at vspink.com. The schools receiving the highest number of votes will be revealed on Oct. 16, and Victoria's Secret will try to include those schools in its 2009 Collegiate Line, according to the Web site.
Were Tufts to be a top nominee, the student body, faculty and administration at Tufts would collectively determine what pieces of merchandise should boast the Tufts name and be sold at the school bookstore, according to Reitman.
In order to appear in the Tufts bookstore, the resulting merchandise would have to be dually approved. The Tufts Bookstore is a branch of book retailer Barnes and Noble, so both Barnes and Noble and the university must endorse merchandise for sale at the bookstore, according to Jenna Scinicarello, the bookstore's assistant manager.
"The Victoria's Secret line would probably be popular to a certain extent," Scinicarello said. "[But] it's not, for example, going to do well in the unisex department."
Creating a contract with Victoria's Secret could cause more problems than benefits, as well as garner a significant amount of unsavory publicity, Reitman said.
"Setting aside my own opinions," Reitman said, "There's just no real reason to plunge Tufts into that kind of controversy. Tufts should be known for its great community, its thoughtful students, its sense of social responsibility, not its underwear."
