Two rows of signs poked through a thin layer of snow between the Schine Student Center and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The images, showing a black bar twisting over a green hill, beg the question, “What’s being built on South?”

Living SU, a blog in which students share their experiences at Syracuse University, released a clue on Monday in conjunction with the posting of the signs around campus. The clue read, “When the weather is fair, I will be there. April to November, always an adventure!”

Construction on the South Campus project will conclude in the fall of 2013, said Maryann Akinboyewa, communications assistant at SU’s Division of Student Affairs. But Akinboyewa, a sophomore marketing and writing major, declined to give any insight into the nature of the finished project.

Akinboyewa’s role is to promote the campaign by releasing clues. She wrote the blog post on Living SU that featured the first clue.

The Division of Student Affairs will continue to release clues before revealing what the university is building, she said. Akinboyewa did not provide a specific time frame, but said the division will release the final details of the construction project “in the next few weeks.”

The signs and clues are parts of a larger student involvement campaign, she said. Before the Division of Student Affairs announces the plans, it hopes to encourage student engagement through social media.

“’What’s being built on South?’ is all about engagement,” Akinboyewa said. “The campaign is a fun way to get students excited about something coming to South Campus.”

The signs include a Twitter hashtag, #beingbuiltonsouth. On Monday and Tuesday, students tweeted their predictions, which ranged from the Death Star to a playpen full of puppies. Many Twitter users guessed the university is constructing a ropes course on South Campus.

Although the campaign’s hashtag has not gone viral, Twitter users have sent more than 30 tweets containing the hashtag since it was released Monday.

“I am really pleased to see the engagement we have had so far,” Akinboyewa said. “Students seem to be really excited about it. I’ve seen some interesting guesses and would definitely encourage students to continue to guess on Twitter.”

Published on April 2, 2013 at 11:11 pm

Contact Jacob: jspramuk@syr.edu