By Zoebelle Bean, Aquinas Reporter
Squirrel in a tree on campus – Photo by Zoebelle Bean.
The AQ Difference: a promotional model used to persuade students to join and stick with Aquinas College. A marketing tagline that highlights just what Aquinas can and will do differently for the incoming students. Yet, something that is thrown around as a punchline as well.
When asked “what does The AQ Difference mean to you?” students had a variety of their own interpretations.
Nelson artwork inside the Sturrus Sports Building – Photo by Zoebelle Bean.
“I just use it purely ironically like whenever something breaks or doesn’t work right,” said senior Abby Kozal.
Many students also agreed with the theme of using the term when something is not the way it is supposed to be.
“Usually I use that phrase when I’m talking about the mold on the dorm bathrooms,” said sophomore Megan, who preferred to leave her last name anonymous.
“The AQ Difference is walking into my apartment on move-in and there’s mold and paint peeling off the wall and I got told that it wasn’t checked or approved for move-in yet,” said former Aquinas student Katy Totty.
Some students were unsure what the AQ Difference meant, especially the freshman class and commuter students. Even though she was not entirely sure what it meant, senior Laura Standel offered her opinion on it:
“I don’t know but I think it’s something Aquinas uses to make the college seem better, to promote good education and tools even though the campus doesn’t look that great right now,” said Standel
While this article is mostly rhetorical satire, the humor behind it is entirely real. Aquinas has recently expanded its Advancement Department in efforts to mitigate these comments and generically improve the campus experience.
“The AQ Difference” is used to get a laugh out of people. It’s meant as a way to connect students to the troubles that plague them all, because the students know most of these problems are out of their control and use humor as a way to get over it. It’s used as rhetoric because students know that, in the end, they enjoy what they get out of Aquinas and they need to look beyond the small roadblocks that prevent them from enjoying their education.
The Saint 